Pitt Opens ACC Slate At Home Saturday Night Against No. 9 Wake Forest

PITTSBURGH – The Pitt men's soccer team (1-2-1, 0-0-0 ACC) opens up ACC play Saturday night at home as they welcome the No. 9 Wake Forest Demon Deacons to Ambrose Urbanic Field. Saturday's match will kick at 7:00 pm and air live on ACC Network Extra.

FOLLOW ALONG

Saturday night's contest will air live on ACC Network Extra and can be found online HERE.
Live stats for Saturday's game can be found HERE.
Live updates throughout the game will also be posted on Twitter by following the Pitt men's soccer account @Pitt_MSOC.

THE SERIES – WAKE FOREST

This meeting marks the sixth between the two programs all-time with Wake owning the 5-0-0 lead in the all-time series.
Overall in the series, Wake Forest has outscored the Panthers 13-1 with Pitt's lone goal against the Demon Deacons coming in 2021.
The Demon Deacons collected the 3-1 home victory over the Panthers the last time the two teams met in 2021.
Wake is 3-0-0 all-time in matches played at Ambrose Urbanic Field including a 2-0 win over Pitt the last time they played in Pittsburgh in 2019.

SCOUTING THE DEMON DEACONS

Wake Forest is 2-0-2 on the year after collecting a 5-1 home victory over Furman on Monday night. The Demon Deacons moved up to No. 9 in the latest United Soccer Coaches Top-25 poll.
The Demon Deacons are being led offensively by Roald Mitchell who has four goals and eight points on 12 shots while Babacar Niang has two goals through four matches on 11 shots. Hosei Kijima leads the team with two assists while notching four shots.
In goal, Trace Alphin has earned a 2-0-2 record while owning a 0.75 goals-against average and one shut out so far this season. He is the reigning ACC Defensive Player of the Week.
The Demon Deacons were tabbed to finish second in the Atlantic Division while earning two votes to win the overall championship in the preseason ACC Coaches Poll.

LAST TIME OUT – VS. NO. 2 MARSHALL

The Panthers suffered their second straight loss Tuesday night as No. 2 Marshall netted a pair of second half goals to earn the 3-1 road win.
The Panthers tied the game, 1-1, late in the second half as Albert Thorsen fed Luka Kozomara who beat the Herd keeper to the lower left corner for his third goal in three games.
The Herd responded early in the second half with two goals in five minutes to put the game away.
Pitt held the 18-16 lead in shots while the Herd had the 5-1 edge in corners.
Cabral Carter finished his match with a career-high five saves while Kozomara finished his strong showing with a career-high five shots in 53 minutes of work.

RECENT SUCCESS FOR THE PANTHERS

Appearing in two College Cups in the past three seasons, the Pitt men's soccer team has been one of the most successful programs in the nation.
Over the past four seasons (2020-23), Pitt is tied for fifth in total wins among all teams in the nation with 41 victories.
The Panthers have collected at least 12 wins in each of the past three seasons.

MOST WINS IN NCAA SINCE 2020

No.          Team                           Wins
1.             Washington                  45
2.             Clemson                       44
3.             Kentucky                      42
                Indiana                         42
5.             Pitt                               41
                Wake Forest                 41
7.             New Hampshire            40
8.             Georgetown                   40

KOZOMARA SCORES AGAIN

After spending two seasons at Temple and being used primarily on defense, Luka Kozomara has made a nice transition to the wing for the Panthers.
The Junior has found the back of the net in three straight matches for the Panthers including the lone goal Tuesday against No. 2 Marshall while also racking up a career-high five shots.
The three goals in three matches marks his first three career collegiate goals after not scoring in his first two seasons.
In the road loss to Georgetown, Kozomara came off the bench and netted a goal while playing just 16 minutes.
He buried his first career goal in Pitt's 5-0 home win over Howard last week as he came off the bench and played a season-high 36 minutes and recorded two shots.
He leads Pitt with three goals and six points while ranking third with eight shots while appearing in three matches off the bench.

NEXT UP

Pitt hits the road on Friday, September 15 as they travel to Chestnut Hill, MA to take on the Boston College Eagles. Friday's match will kick at 7:00 pm and air live on ACC Network Extra.