Panthers Advance to College Cup with 1-0 Double OT Victory Over Portland

Saturday, December 3

Pittsburgh, Pa.

1:00 PM

Pitt

12-4-5, 3-2-3

Portland

15-3-3, 6-1-0

Portland

Pittsburgh

Panthers Advance to College Cup with 1-0 Double OT Victory Over Portland

12/3/2022 5:10:00 PM | Men's Soccer

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PITTSBURGH – Pitt delivered a dramatic 1-0 double overtime victory over Portland in front of a capacity crowd at Ambrose Urbanic Field Saturday afternoon to advance to the College Cup at WakeMed Sports Park in Cary, N.C. for the second time in the past three seasons. The Panthers dominated play throughout the contest before securing the win with a Valentin Noel goal in the 104^th minute.

Noel netted his 11^th goal of the season by banging a header into the back of the net from just outside the penalty hash off a terrific cross from Bertin Jacquesson. Lucas Rosa slid a thru ball to Jacquesson along the right wing and the junior forward took a touch toward the end line before finding his countryman in front of the cage for another scoring sequence from the French connection. The tandem has combined for 19 goals and eight assists on the season.

Pitt was on attack throughout the game generating a commanding 32-8 advantage on shots, including an 11-2 in shots on goal. Goalie Joe van der Sar came away with two saves, including smothering an up close attempt in the 70^th minute en route to his 8th clean sheet of the season.

OT OPPORTUNITIES
Pitt nearly grabbed the lead in the first 10-minute overtime stanza as Filip Mirkovic found Josh Luchini on the back post at the 98-minute mark, but the Portland keeper got a hand down just in time to smother the one-time attempt and keep the game 0-0 … Rodrigo Almeida's header off a Mirkovic cross two minutes into the second overtime session drifted just wide of frame.

EARLY & OFTEN
Pitt came out strong dominating play in the opening minutes of play with five shots in the opening 10 minutes of play … In the third minute Rosa has a strike from the top of the box forcing a diving save by the Portland keeper. Pitt retained control and followed with cross and diving header by Jacquesson that slid just wide of frame … in the sixth minute, Jacquesson sent a driving cross into the box that was redirected on goal by Almeida that was blocked off the line by a Portland defender … Rosa added a right foot blast from just inside the box deflected over the cross bar by Portland keeper in the ninth minute.

OPENING HALF DOMINATION
The Panthers completely controlled play in the opening 45 minutes with a 15-1 shot advantage and a 3-0 edge in corners … Pitt had possession for 63 percent of the opening half with 60 percent of its possession occurring on the offensive side of the field … Portland's keeper was credited with six saves in the opening half and the Pilot defense also cleared one shot off the line.

SECOND HALF SLUGFEST
With Portland sitting on the ball and several stoppages in play by the center judge the opening 25 minutes of play in the second half had little flow and consistency … Portland was given four yellow cards after halftime.

POSTED
Pitt's second half attack was thwarted by a couple attempt that found the left post as opposed to the back of the cage …in the 68^thminute Rosa dispossessed a Portland defender near the top of the box and fired a diving shot that slid past the Portland keeper and off the outside edge of the left post … Noel hit the same post in the 75^th minute with a header off a Jacquesson cross after he beat a Portland defender on the end line.

END OF REGULATION DRAMA
The Panthers had a series of scoring opportunities at the end of regulation with a corner in the 88^th minute that results in a bobble and failed clear by the Pilots. A short time later Mirkovic drove the corner of the box from the left and ripped a shot past the keeper but just wide ridge of the cage … the Panthers countered a Portland corner in the final minute and nearly came up with a dramatic tally in the closing seconds of the half. Noel gathers a header over the Portland defense on the left edge of the box and pushed a shot towards frame where the Portland keeper had to make a diving stab with his left hand to send the game into extra time.

VIDOVICH QUATERFINAL SUCCESS
Head coach Jay Vidovich improved to 5-1 in NCAA Tournament quarterfinal matchups, including a 2-1 mark at Pitt.

OTHER NOTES

With the win, Pitt improves to 10-2-1 all-time in NCAA Tournament matches including a 2-1 mark in Elite Eight matches
This marks the Panthers second trip to the College Cup in the last three years
Pitt is now 10-0-1 this season when scoring the first goal of the match
The Panthers improve to 32-4-5 at home since 2019 including a 8-1-4 mark at Ambrose Urbanic Field this year
With his goal, Noel now has 83 career points and is just one point shy of tying Eric Prex and Joe Luxbacher for the all-time scoring record at Pitt
With his assist, Jacquesson moved into sole possession of second place on the all-time assist charts (23)
With his clean sheet, van der Sar has eight on the season which are fourth most in a single season in program history
With the win in goal, van der Sar is now tied for fifth in program history in wins in a season (12)
Senior captain Jackson Walti played in his school record 100^th career game Saturday in front of the home fans

UP NEXT
The Panthers will travel down to Cary, NC for the College Cup at WakeMed Soccer Complex. They will play Indiana in the National Semifinal on Friday night at 8:30 pm on ESPNU.