Pitt women’s soccer clinches spot in ACC Tournament with 0-0 draw against Clemson

The last time Pitt Women’s Soccer clinched a spot in any postseason tournament was in 2010. The San Francisco Giants were on the cusp of winning their first World Series in over 50 years, President Obama was halfway through his first term, and Ambrose Urbanic Field wasn’t open yet. The Panthers lost to DePaul in the Big East quarterfinals and failed to return to the postseason since.

Until now. The No. 19 Panthers (12-4-2, 5-3-2 ACC) played to a scoreless draw against the Clemson Tigers (8-4-4, 4-3-2 ACC) on Thursday. The tie officially booked Pitt a trip to its first-ever ACC tournament. Head coach Randy Waldrum said he was proud of how far this program has come since he took over five years ago.

“Think about five years ago when we got here,” he said. “The quality of soccer was poor then, but to see how far we’ve come, it’s hard to describe it. I’m extremely proud of the players.”

Senior goalkeeper Caitlyn Lazzarini pitched the shutout, and said she’s thrilled for her squad, especially the other seniors.

“It means everything,” she said. “Some of us won’t come back for a fifth year, so for this possibly being our last home game, it was the best way to go out.”

But it didn’t look good for the Panthers early on, as Clemson came flying out of the gate and collected two corner kicks in the first couple of minutes. The Tigers also had a win-an-in situation on their hands, but a tie was not in the cards for the visitors. They had to come out on top and they knew it.

Pitt had the first chance of the day in the seventh minute, when sophomore forward Samiah Phiri shot from the side of the goal and Clemson junior goalkeeper Halle Mackiewicz made the grabbing save. Clemson senior forward Maliah Morris had a good chance a minute later, but her shot deflected off of Pitt senior defender Ashton Gordon and she cleared the zone. Waldrum said his team bent but didn’t break in the early going, keeping the game tied.

“The last couple times we played [Clemson], they’ve beaten us off of corner kicks,” he said. “It was pretty shaky, but we did well. We put a lot of work in defensively.”

Morris and Clemson sophomore forward Renee Lyles had consecutive shots in the 28th minute, but Pitt senior goalkeeper Lazzarini made both saves and forced a corner kick. The third Clemson corner of the half didn’t find any Clemson players, giving senior forward Landy Mertz a golden opportunity.

The lead pass went over the head of the Clemson defender and right in front of Mertz, who only had Mackiewicz to beat. Mertz drove past her and dribbled toward the right side of the net, but her shot sliced outside of the post and out of bounds. It was the best chance for the Panthers in the first half-hour.

Pitt maintained pressure in the last 20 minutes of the half, snuffing out every one of Clemson’s chances with easy saves and goal kicks. The Panthers ended the half with their first corner of the night, but Mertz’s out-swinger went right into the hands of Mackiewicz. 

The halftime whistle sounded with the match scoreless. Clemson outshot Pitt 7-6 and also collected four corner kicks to Pitt’s one. But the Tigers committed seven fouls to Pitt’s two. Lazzarini said she couldn’t take all of the credit for the performance, crediting her teammates with helping the team succeed.

“We needed to manage the game in a smart way,” she said. “I can’t really take credit for much outside of doing my job. I knew it was our game, our defense was extraordinary.”

The second half started similar to the first half, with Morris taking a shot off the side of the net two minutes in. The resulting corner stayed in the Panthers’ defensive end for a bit, but they cleared the ball without a blemish. She had another chance in the 53rd minute, as a shot on goal went past three Pitt defenders, but Lazzarini dove to her right and made the save.

Clemson’s best chance came in the 59th minute, when senior forward Caroline Conti got the ball in the 18-yard box with a lot of open real estate. She wound up, fired and beat Lazzarini, but she couldn’t beat the post and the game remained scoreless. Waldrum admitted he was worried about the chance, but said he was thankful that it didn’t find twine.

“I was concerned because she was so free,” he said. “We got sucked in across, and she had the whole goal to shoot at. We caught a break on that one.”

The game remained scoreless in the 70th minute, even when the official gave Clemson junior defender Megan Bornkamp a yellow card when she tripped up senior forward Leah Pais. The Panthers didn’t convert on the free kick and the subsequent corner kick turned up empty-handed. 

The game remained scoreless in the 80th minute, even after the ref swallowed her whistle when Bornkamp shoved Pais to the turf. Clemson made the stop, and the Pitt defense held strong when Lazzarini came out of her net and punched the ball away from the 18-yard box. Waldrum acknowledged the lack of a call in the box, but he said the referee left it up to the players.

“I thought it was a [penalty kick],” Waldrum said. “But in fairness, I would prefer a referee that’s not going to call things that aren’t certain in her mind. At least she was consistent in not calling that for either team.”

Clemson put pressure on the Pitt defense for the final five minutes of play, in a last-ditch effort to steal the game and the final tournament spot. A string of shots came to a climax in the 89th minute when senior forward Samantha Meredith found the ball within a mess of players and shot for the season.

Pitt kept it out. The horn sounded on the regular season and the Panthers clinched the final spot in the ACC Tournament. Lazzarini, who finished the night with six saves, said she was exhausted once the final whistle blew.

“I’m tired,” she said. “I’m going to go home and go to bed immediately.”

With a tie in the Duke and Notre Dame match, the Panthers will travel to South Bend on Sunday for a rematch with the No. 4 Fighting Irish. The ACC Network will broadcast the game and it will start at 6 p.m.