# 2019 Pittsburgh Panthers men's soccer team

The 2019 Pittsburgh Panthers men's soccer team represented University of Pittsburgh during the 2019 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. The Panthers were led by head coach Jay Vidovich, in his fourth season. They played home games at Ambrose Urbanic Field. This was the team's 66th season playing organized men's college soccer and their 7th playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Pitt earned their first berth into the NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament since 1965.

## Background

The 2018 Pittsburgh men's soccer team finished the season with an 8–10–1 overall record and a 2–6–0 ACC record. The Panthers were seeded eleventh–overall in the 2018 ACC Men's Soccer Tournament, where they upset Virginia in the first round before losing to Duke on penalties in the second round.
The Panthers were not invited to the 2018 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament. The Panthers had one player selected in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft: Javi Pérez, by Los Angeles FC.

## Player movement
### Players leaving

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Peter Prescott | 2 | DF | 6'4" | 180 | Senior | Vancouver, WA | Graduated |
| Tom Moxham | 3 | DF | 6'0" | 165 | Senior | Plymouth, England | Graduated |
| Shane Wiedt | 4 | DF | 6'3" | 180 | Senior | Akron, OH | Graduated |
| Joshua Gaspari | 5 | MF | 5'7" | 158 | Senior | Canberra, Australia | Graduated |
| Javi Pérez | 6 | MF | 5'8" | 158 | Senior | Valencia, Spain | Declared for 2019 MLS SuperDraft; selected 64th overall by Los Angeles FC |
| Robby Dambrot | 22 | DF | 6'1" | 166 | Senior | Akron, OH | Graduated |
| Craig Bair | 23 | DF | 5'6" | 155 | Senior | Brecksville, OH | Graduated |

### Players arriving

| Name | Nat. | Hometown | Club | TDS Rating |
| Luke Mort FW | USA | Greensburg, PA | Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC | |
| Veljko Petković MF | USA | Ridgewood, NY | NYCFC | |

## Squad
### Roster

Updated August 20, 2019
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 0 | GK | USA | Johan Peñaranda |
| 1 | GK | USA | Alexander Steinbach |
| 2 | DF | USA | Nyk Sessock |
| 3 | DF | USA | Chandler Vaughn |
| 4 | DF | USA | Bryce Washington |
| 5 | DF | ESP | Arturo Ordoñez |
| 6 | MF | GER | Lucas Cyriacus |
| 7 | MF | USA | Braden Kline |
| 8 | MF | FRA | Valentin Noël |
| 9 | FW | UGA | Edward Kizza |
| 11 | MF | BRA | Rodrigo Almeida |
| 12 | FW | ENG | Josh Hesson |
| 13 | FW | USA | Alexander Dexter |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 14 | DF | ESP | Sito Sena |
| 15 | FW | USA | Luke Mort |
| 17 | MF | USA | Alec Townsend |
| 18 | MF | USA | Tim Townsend |
| 19 | MF | SRB | Veljko Petković |
| 20 | MF | USA | Matt Bailey |
| 21 | MF | USA | Alex Peperak |
| 22 | DF | USA | Sebastian Serpa |
| 24 | MF | SUI | Jackson Walti |
| 25 | DF | USA | Chad Stout |
| 27 | DF | USA | Anthony Harding |
| 28 | DF | USA | Tim Ekopne |
| 32 | GK | USA | Arie Ammann |

### Team management

| Position | Staff |
| Athletic Director | Heather Lyke |
| Head Coach | Jay Vidovich |
| Assistant Coach | Michael Behonick |
| Assistant Coach | Rich Costanzo |
Source:

## Schedule

Source:
| Date Time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (Attendance) City, State |
| Exhibition ||||||
| August 17* 7:00 p.m. | | Duquesne | W 5–0 | – (–) | Ambrose Urbanic Field Pittsburgh, PA |
| August 23* 5:00 p.m. | | at No. 17 James Madison | W 1–0 | – (–) | Sentara Park Harrisonburg, VA |
| Regular season ||||||
| August 30* 8:00 p.m. | | at No. 2 Indiana Adidas/IU Credit Union Classic | L 2–3 $^{2OT}$ | 0–1–0 (0–0–0) | Bill Armstrong Stadium (2,847) Bloomington, IN |
| September 1* 5:00 p.m. | | vs. Northwestern Adidas/IU Credit Union Classic | L 0–1 | 0–2–0 (0–0–0) | Bill Armstrong Stadium (0) Bloomington, IN |
| September 6* 7:30 p.m. | | Liberty | W 3–0 | 1–2–0 (0–0–0) | Ambrose Urbanic Field (906) Pittsburgh, PA |
| September 9* 7:00 p.m. | | Delaware | T 3–3 $^{2OT}$ | 1–2–1 (0–0–0) | Ambrose Urbanic Field (309) Pittsburgh, PA |
| September 13 7:00 p.m. | | No. 1 Wake Forest | L 0–2 | 1–3–1 (0–1–0) | Ambrose Urbanic Field (913) Pittsburgh, PA |
| September 16* 7:00 p.m. | | Akron | W 1–0 | 2–3–1 (0–1–0) | Ambrose Urbanic Field (576) Pittsburgh, PA |
| September 20 5:00 p.m. | | at Boston College | W 2–0 | 3–3–1 (1–1–0) | Newton Soccer Complex (344) Chestnut Hill, MA |
| September 27 7:00 p.m. | | at Syracuse | T 1–1 $^{2OT}$ | 3–3–2 (1–1–1) | SU Soccer Stadium (1,706) Syracuse, NY |
| September 30* 7:00 p.m. | | Denver | W 3–2 $^{2OT}$ | 4–3–2 (1–1–1) | Ambrose Urbanic Field (279) Pittsburgh, PA |
| October 4 7:00 p.m. | | No. 20 North Carolina | L 1–2 | 4–4–2 (1–2–1) | Ambrose Urbanic Field (704) Pittsburgh, PA |
| October 7* 7:00 p.m. | | Howard | W 6–0 | 5–4–2 (1–2–1) | Ambrose Urbanic Field (207) Pittsburgh, PA |
| October 11 7:00 p.m. | | No. 22 Virginia Tech | W 3–1 | 6–4–2 (2–2–1) | Ambrose Urbanic Field (621) Pittsburgh, PA |
| October 15* 7:00 p.m. | | at Penn State | L 1–3 | 6–5–2 (2–2–1) | Jeffrey Field (509) State College, PA |
| October 18 7:00 p.m. | | at No. 1 Virginia | W 2–0 | 7–5–2 (3–2–1) | Klöckner Stadium (3,201) Charlottesville, VA |
| October 25 7:00 p.m. | | Duke | W 4–3 | 8–5–2 (4–2–1) | Ambrose Urbanic Field (875) Pittsburgh, PA |
| November 1 7:00 p.m. | | at Notre Dame | L 0–1 | 8–6–2 (4–3–1) | Alumni Stadium (584) South Bend, IN |
| ACC Tournament ||||||
| November 10 3:00 p.m. | (4) | (5) NC State Quarterfinals | W 2–1 $^{OT}$ | 9–6–2 | Ambrose Urbanic Field (1,010) Pittsburgh, PA |
| November 13 6:00 p.m. | (4) No. 25 | at (1) No. 1 Clemson Semifinals | L 0–1 | 9–7–2 | Riggs Field (1,573) Clemson, SC |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| November 21 7:00 p.m. | | Lehigh First Round | W 2–0 | 10–7–2 | Ambrose Urbanic Field (1,321) Pittsburgh, PA |
| November 24 12:00 p.m. | | at (3) No. 2 Georgetown Second Round | L 0–5 | 10–8–2 | Shaw Field (1,497) Washington, D.C. |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||

## Awards and honors

| Recipient | Award | Date |
| Edward Kizza | All-ACC First Team | November 13, 2019 |
| Veljko Petković | All-ACC Third Team | November 13, 2019 |
| Sito Sena | All-ACC Third Team | November 13, 2019 |
| Valentin Noël | All-ACC Freshman Team | November 13, 2019 |
| Arturo Ordoñez | All-ACC Freshman Team | November 13, 2019 |
| Veljko Petkovic | All-ACC Freshman Team | November 13, 2019 |
| Edward Kizza | All-ACC Tournament Team | November 17, 2019 |
| Arturo Ordonez | All-ACC Tournament Team | November 17, 2019 |

## Rankings

Ranking movement Legend: ██ Improvement in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking. ██ Not ranked the previous week. RV=Others receiving votes. :
| Poll | Pre | Wk 1 | Wk 2 | Wk 3 | Wk 4 | Wk 5 | Wk 6 | Wk 7 | Wk 8 | Wk 9 | Wk 10 | Wk 11 | Wk 12 | Wk 13 | Wk 14 | Wk 15 | Wk 16 | Final |
| United Soccer | | | | | | | | | RV | RV | RV | 25 | RV | None Released | None Released | None Released | None Released | RV |
| TopDrawer Soccer | | | | | | | | | | | RV | | | | RV | RV | RV | RV |