Pitt Opens ACC Play at No. 23 Wake Forest

Friday, September 15

Winston-Salem, N.C.

7:00 PM

Pitt

Wake Forest

Pitt Opens ACC Play at No. 23 Wake Forest

9/14/2017 12:45:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Panthers Face Second Straight Nationally Ranked Opponent

PITTSBURGH – The University of Pittsburgh women's soccer team will open ACC play Friday, traveling to No. 23 Wake Forest as the Panthers and Demon Deacons face off under the lights.

Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. from Spry Stadium in Winston-Salem, N.C.

HOW TO FOLLOW

The game can be seen live on the ACC Network Extra via Watch ESPN or the WatchESPN app
Live stats will also be available here

THE MATCH
Pitt (3-3-2) wraps up a three-game road trip, traveling to No. 23 Wake Forest to open ACC play against the Demon Deacons. The Panthers look to snap a three-game skid, as conference action gets underway. Pitt is coming off a 3-0 loss at the hands of then No. 22 Nebraska Sunday afternoon, as Pitt is in the midst of a five-game stretch against nationally ranked opponents.

Redshirt junior Taylor Pryce paces the Panther offense, having tallied three goals and two assists on the season. Vildan Kardesler, Seyla Perez, Mikayla Schmidt, Juelle Love and Christiana Davey have all contributed a goal as well.

Redshirt freshman Amaia Pena got her first start of the season against Nebraska, making six saves. Fellow redshirt freshman Katelyn McEachern had started in the prior seven contents and has tallied 37 saves on the season, allowing six goals.

SCOUTING WAKE FOREST
The Demon Deacons (6-1-1) enter Friday's game ranked 23rd in the nation according to the United Soccer Coaches Association Poll. Wake Forest has been as high as No. 17 in the poll, and is fresh off a 0-0 double-overtime draw with Michigan. The Demon Deacons suffered their first loss of the season on Sept. 4, falling to Princeton 2-0 at home, but rebounded with an impressive 4-1 win over Michigan State just three days later.

Bayley Feist leads the Demon Deacon offense, having tallied four goals and an assist on the season. Hannah Betfort (3 G), Estelle Laurier (2 G, 3 A), Maddie Huster (2 G, 2 A) and Sofia Rossi (2 G, 1 A) have all produced multiple goals as well. As a team, Wake Forest is outscoring opponents 19-5 and has tallied four shutouts.

Keeper Lindsay Preston has seen the most action in net for Wake Forest, playing in 677:20 minutes, allowing just five goals and recording 23 assists. She has factored in in each decision, as Nonie Frishette has played in two games, recording one save on the season.

RANKED RANKED RANKED RANKED RANKED
The game will be the second straight against a ranked opponent for the Panthers, as Pitt is in the midst of a five-game stretch against national powerhouses. After facing off with No. 22 Nebraska and No. 23 Wake Forest, the Panthers return home to face a Virginia Tech team that is receiving votes. The toughest stretch will come the following week, as Pitt travels to No. 4 Duke before hosting No. 5 Virginia.

The ACC boasts six schools in the top 25, with an additional two programs receiving votes. Duke (4), Virginia (5) and North Carolina (10) all rank in the top 10 with Clemson (11), Florida State (16) and Wake Forest (23) rounding out the nationally ranked schools. Both North Carolina State and Virginia Tech are receiving votes.

THE SERIES
This will be the third all-time meeting between the two teams in a series dating back to the 2013 season. The series is split at 1-1-0 as the Demon Deacons captured a 3-1 win in the inaugural match before the Panthers earned a 2-1 overtime victory in 2015.

MCEACHERN EARNS ACC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK TITLE
Redshirt freshman keeper Katelyn McEachern was named the ACC's Defensive Player of the Week on Aug. 22 after tallying a pair of back-to-back shutouts in her collegiate debut. The rookie recorded eight saves in wins over Hofstra and Duquesne and has yet to allow a goal on the season. McEachern played the entirety of both games, tallying 190:42 minutes.

The league honor is the first for a Panther since Taylor Pryce was named the ACC Co-Offensive Player of the Week on Sept. 29, 2015 after scoring game winning goals against Wake Forest and Louisville.

RETURNING TALENT
Pitt's 2017 squad gets a boost, as both Ashley Moreira and Taylor Pryce will return to the starting lineups, after missing the 2016 season. Both members of the U-20 Canadian National Team, the duo will look to bolster a squad that struggled to find the back of the next last year. Pryce tallied six goals, two of which were game winners, in 2015, adding four in 2014. Moreira, a midfielder, scored once, adding two assists in 2015; additionally, she recorded three helpers in her freshman campaign in 2014.

Two of the team's top-three leaders in minutes played will return from the 2016 season, with Alli Higgs (1581) and Sarah Krause (1479) set to lace up with the starting squad.

FRESH FACES
The 2017 team will debut some fresh faces, led by redshirt freshman goalkeeper Katelyn McEachern, the first new keeper since the 2014 season, as 2016 alum Taylor Francis had held down the position for 50 consecutive matches. As a whole, the Panthers welcome nine new faces with freshmen Alexis Bengel, Kendall Higgs, Juelle Love, Vildan Kardesler, Jess McCoppin, Shana Hardin, Aideen O'Donoghue and Kylie Olexa; and transfer Megan Herr.

MEET YOUR CAPTAINS
A trio of Canadians will lead the way for the 2017 Pitt women's soccer season, as redshirt junior Taylor Pryce and seniors Ashley Moreira and Emma Pozzulo will captain the squad. Both Pryce and Moreira will serve as first-year captains, while Pozzulo gets her third season as a captain underway.

THE SCHEDULE
The regular season will get underway at the Petersen Sports Complex on Aug. 18 as the Panthers welcome Hofstra, before taking to the road for three-straight away battles with Duquesne (Aug. 20), Cincinnati (Aug. 24) and Xavier (Aug. 27). The Panthers will close out the month on Aug. 30, welcoming Detroit.

Illinois State visits Sept. 3, as Pitt will travel to Kent State (Sept. 7) and Nebraska (Sept. 10) before ACC play gets underway. A Sept. 15 visit to Wake Forest gets league play going, as Pitt will host Virginia Tech (Sept. 21) and travel to Duke (Sept. 24) to wrap up September action.

Three consecutive home games follow as the Panthers host perennial powerhouse Virginia (Oct. 1), followed by Syracuse (Oct. 5) and NC State (Oct. 8). A trip to Louisville (Oct. 13) will follow, with visits to Miami (Oct. 19) and Florida State (Oct. 22) wrapping up regular season road play. The 2017 regular season will come to a close on Oct. 26 when the Panthers host Boston College.

UP NEXT
Pitt returns home for the first time since Sept. 3, as the Panthers host Virginia Tech at 7 p.m. on Sept. 21. The Panthers will continue their tough stretch, traveling to No. 4 Duke (Sept. 24) before hosting No. 5 Virginia (Oct. 1).

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