Women’s Soccer: Panthers head to Wake Forest, look for first ACC win

Pitt women’s soccer continues its search for the team’s first conference win of the season tonight against the No. 22 Wake Forest Demon Deacons. This season, the Panthers (4-11-1, 0-10-0 ACC) have been outscored by 25 goals in ACC play and have failed to produce a single ACC point this season in 10 matches (0-10).

While Pitt has yet to win, captain Morgan Sharick still holds faith in her team’s capabilities to win before the season ends.

“We have three more opportunities to get out there and earn another possible nine points,” Sharick said. “I still believe in this team and don’t believe that we’re going to end the season without an ACC win.”

Although Sharick and the Panthers may be confident, they face a difficult opponent in Wake Forest (9-4-2, 4-4-2 ACC). This season, the Demon Deacons have scored 25 times, led by senior forward Katie Stengel, who has tallied seven goals and 20 total points this season.

If the Panthers want to put on a successful performance and pick up their first conference victory of the season, the team must find a way past Wake Forest goalie Aubrey Bledsoe. Bledsoe owns a goals-against average of 0.75 and a conference-leading .831 save percentage.

This season, Wake Forest has played extremely well against a pair of top-ranked teams in the ACC.

On Sept. 12, the Demon Deacons tied No. 3 Florida State at home earning a point against. To date, the Demon Deacons have not allowed more than two goals to any opponent they have faced.

Pitt has played a disappointing inaugural ACC season so far. The Panthers are 0-10 in conference play and have allowed more than three goals in six ACC games this season.

The team is also struggling to score. The Panthers have not scored a goal since Sept. 22 in a 3-1 loss against then-No. 1 North Carolina. The scoreless streak spans six matches. In fact, the Panthers have scored only one goal in their last 10 matches. The most recent match was a 4-0 defeat to Virginia Tech last weekend.

Pitt faces Duke and Maryland to conclude the season, but head coach Greg Miller stresses that the team will take the final matches one at a time to finish strong.

“We have to start with one win, and then go from there,” Miller said. “We have to learn from previous mistakes and get back to work, so we can hopefully beat Wake.”