Men’s Soccer: Pitt looks for first ACC win in final match

The Pitt men’s soccer team heads into tonight’s conference match with a bit of confidence fresh off a 9-0 victory over Howard University. The confidence may be short-lived, however, as Pitt heads to South Bend, Ind., to play No. 1 Notre Dame.

After losing 10 of their first 14 matches and failing to produce a single win over that stretch, the Panthers (1-10-4, 0-8-2 ACC) finally broke their season-long slump Tuesday against Howard. Pitt struck for nine goals and tallied 38 shots on goal.

The nine-goal performance was the best offensive showing in 20 years.

“The performance just proves one, what we’re capable of, but [also] the strength of our schedule,” head coach Joe Luxbacher said. “We’ve played so many top teams, and now we finally faced an average Division I team, and we smoked them.”

Tuesday, the Panthers received goals from six different players, including a hat trick from senior striker Chris Davis.

“It was great to finally get a goal,” Davis said. “[The scoring] has been absent this season, but it is just about the win, really. It’s nice to finally get a win.”

The win against Howard provided a bit of a respite for the wary Panthers. In addition to being the first win this season, the match was the first time the Panthers held a lead since a home match against Boston College.

“At the end of the day, though, we have not gotten the results we wanted, but coming into Notre Dame the guys feel good,” Luxbacher said.

The Panthers currently sit in last place in the conference, a fate that means the team will not qualify for next weekend’s ACC postseason tournament.

On the flip side, Notre Dame (10-1-5, 6-1-3 ACC) enters the match leading the ACC standings. Like Pitt, the Fighting Irish are in their first season as a member of the conference.

Notre Dame’s only loss came on Oct. 26 against current No. 15-ranked Virginia.

“[Notre Dame] is the No. 1 team, and they’ve only lost once in the ACC, so it is going to be an extremely tough test,” Luxbacher said. “But [our performance against Howard] shows that we’re capable of playing pretty well.”

The Fighting Irish currently have one of the most dangerous players in the nation in captain Harrison Shipp.

This season, Shipp has produced 21 points (7 goals, 7 assists), which is currently good for second place in the conference. Shipp also is tied for the ACC lead in game-winning goals with four.

In net, the Irish pose a threat in the form of starting keeper Patrick Wall, whose play in-goal mirrors the meaning of his surname.

Through the first 16 games of the season, Wall has produced a goals-against average of 0.64 and compiled 51 saves, while producing the second most (6) shutouts in the ACC.

After the match on Friday, the Irish will advance to next week’s ACC Tournament, while the Panthers’ season will be finished.

“Going into the [last] match of the season, and the last [match of my career], we are definitely going to give it one more shot,” Pitt senior captain John Cordier said.