Weekend Sports Recap: Men’s soccer extends perfect start

Despite Pitt football’s disappointing loss to Notre Dame, other Panther teams yielded better results. The men’s soccer team dominated Louisville and remains the No. 1 team in the nation.

Women’s soccer did not play due to the recent decision to reduce the maximum regular-season games for ACC teams. Volleyball continued its dominance by sweeping Louisville on Friday, but suffered a heartbreaking loss to the same Cardinals squad two days later.

Men’s Soccer

Pitt dominated Louisville 4-1 on Sunday with four different scorers, including two first-years — midfielder Filip Mirkovic and forward Luke Mort — scoring for the first time in their young careers.

The Panthers’ latest win makes it a 5-0 start to the 2020 season, their best season-opening winning streak since 2002. Under head coach Jay Vidovich, the Panthers received the No. 1 ranking in the United Soccer Coaches poll for the first time in program history less than a week ago and showed why this past Sunday.

Pitt will look to stay atop the college soccer world in its next match against Notre Dame on Friday. Kickoff is 6 p.m. at Ambrose Urbanic Field.

Women’s Soccer

Pitt cancelled its game at Syracuse scheduled for this past Sunday and announced it will not be made up later this fall. The decision came after the recent amendments to ACC scheduling rules that reduced the maximum number of regular-season games any ACC women’s soccer team could play from 20 to 16.

The 9-3 Panthers were coming off a 2-0 game against the University of Miami looking to continue the momentum after winning 3 out of the last 4 games. Amanda West, who has scored 12 goals in 12 games, leads Pitt.

The Panthers’ next match is set for Thursday at Clemson with kickoff slated for 7 p.m.

Volleyball

The No. 10 ranked Panthers sweeped the No. 6 ranked Louisville on Friday, led by redshirt first-year Valeria Vazquez Gomez, who had a career night with 10 kills and two aces.

Pitt won in straight sets — 26-24, 25-21 and 25-23. The Panthers dominated at home to earn their 37th straight win at the Fitzgerald Field House, with the last loss coming in 2017.

Their dominant home streak came to an end Sunday. Louisville bounced back with a bolstering attack and beat the Panthers 1-3. Louisville’s Anna DeBeer controlled the game with 22 kills and three blocks.