Soccer: Men’s and women’s teams face arduous conference foes on road

Pitt men’s and women’s soccer are set for road bouts this weekend and, although they’ll each travel to different destinations within the country, both are slated to face challenging ACC opponents.

Pitt’s men’s team (0-6-3, 0-5-1 ACC) will head north to face Syracuse (8-4, 2-4 ACC) on Saturday at 7 p.m., beginning the ACC chapter of a long-standing rivalry. Meanwhile, the women’s contingent (4-8-1, 0-7 ACC) will travel south to face No. 3 Florida State (10-0-3, 5-0-2 ACC) at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Though the teams will head in opposite directions geographically this weekend, the Pitt men’s and women’s teams are each looking to head upward in the conference ranks.

“Our last match [against Virginia Tech], we did a good job. But there’s always a chance to improve as we look toward Syracuse this weekend,” midfielder Nick Wysong said.

For the Pitt men’s team, a major part of scouting the Orange in preparation for Saturday’s game will be figuring out how to defend against Emil Ekblom.

The freshman from Bekkestua, Norway, has been the Orange’s best player this season. Two matches ago, Ekblom recorded three goals and an assist in a 5-0 win against North Carolina State. This season, Ekblom has scored a conference-leading eight times and, with his two-goal performance against Boston College on Tuesday, has taken the lead for most points in the ACC.

The Panthers are coming off a successful Tuesday outing of their own — albeit at a different magnitude — with a scoreless draw against Virginia Tech that earned them their first ACC point. In the match, Pitt had a few opportunities to score, but the Hokies defense was stifling. Pitt has struggled offensively this season, as the team has scored only four goals through its first nine games. Sophomore goalkeeper Dan Lynd, who currently leads the ACC in saves, has buoyed the Panthers defensively.

Conversely, Syracuse has fielded one of the most potent offenses in college soccer. The Orange have scored 36 goals through their first 12 matches. Earlier in the season, the Orange defeated then-No. 12 UConn 1-0 and topped North Carolina State and Duke. The Orange also feature one of the top goalies in the ACC in Alex Bono. This season, Bono has put up a 1.06 goals against average and amassed 38 saves and five shutouts.

“Our goal is to get into the playoffs,” Wysong said. “Anything can happen once you get into the postseason. We just need to continue to work hard and hopefully get some balls into the back of the net.”

The Pitt women’s side is enduring similar hardships this season, which are fueled by a putrid offensive skid that has resulted in just a single goal in seven ACC contests. Now the team faces a collection of the nation’s premier talent.

“Florida State is a very talented team,” women’s head coach Greg Miller said. “Again, they’re playing in their home environment.”

Florida State has defeated in-state rivals Miami, Florida and Central Florida while also topping former No. 1 North Carolina so far this season.

Like the men’s opponent, the Seminoles are keyed by a young, foreign star. Redshirt freshman forward Berglind Thorvaldsdottir, a native of Iceland, leads the team with five goals.

While Florida State has a ton of firepower offensively, its defense is equally dominant. In the net, redshirt senior Kelsey Wys has been unbelievable. After racking up Third-Team All-American and ACC tournament MVP honors last season, Wys has compiled eight shutouts and a 0.50 goals against average this campaign.

Now Wys faces the sputtering Panthers, who have lost seven consecutive ACC games. Sunday against Syracuse, the Panthers allowed four goals, highlighted by freshman Stephanie Skilton’s hat trick.

In the last two weeks, the Pitt women’s team encountered the No. 1, 3 and 9 teams in the country. In the game against No. 1 Virginia, the Panthers actually enjoyed a 1-0 lead for a brief period. In the end, however, Virginia proved to be too much for the young Panthers, winning 3-1. 

Pitt is paced offensively by sophomore midfielder Roosa Arvas, who has two goals and three assists, and defensively by goalie Nicole D’Agostino. This season D’Agostino, a redshirt junior, ranks fifth in save percentage and first in saves with 77, which is 27 more than the No. 2 keeper.

D’Agostino and the Panthers will be tested this weekend, but they’re not alone in that regard.

“We haven’t been great on the road this year, so we’ve got to figure out something different to try and put out a good product and get a result,” Miller said of the women’s team, though both Panthers soccer teams will share that goal this weekend.