2023 Pittsburgh Panthers men's soccer team

The 2023 Pittsburgh Panthers men's soccer team represented the University of Pittsburgh during the 2023 NCAA Division I men's soccer season. The Panthers were led by head coach Jay Vidovich, in his eighth season. They played their home games at Ambrose Urbanic Field. This was the team's 70th season playing organized men's college soccer and their 11th playing in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

2023 Pittsburgh Panthers men's soccer
NCAA Tournament, First Round
ConferenceAtlantic Coast Conference
Record6–7–4 (2–3–3 ACC)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Bryce Cregan (2nd season)
  • Josh Oldroyd (1st season)
  • Zack Schilawski (1st season)
Home stadiumAmbrose Urbanic Field
Seasons
← 2022
2024 →
2023 ACC men's soccer standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   T W   L   T
Atlantic
No. 15 Wake Forest + 4 1 3 11 3 5
No. 1 Clemson 4 2 2 15 3 5
No. 25 Syracuse + 2 1 5 9 5 7
No. 24 Louisville + 2 4 2 12 6 3
NC State 1 5 2 6 9 3
Boston College 0 5 3 3 9 5
Coastal
No. 2 Notre Dame + 6 0 2 13 3 6
No. 13 Virginia + 5 2 1 11 4 4
No. 20 Duke+ 4 3 1 11 4 3
No. 6 North Carolina + 2 3 3 11 3 7
Pittsburgh + 2 3 3 6 7 4
Virginia Tech 2 5 1 4 9 4
As of December 12, 2023
Rankings from United Soccer Coaches
Source: The ACC

The Panthers finished the season 6–7–4 overall and 2–3–3 in ACC play to finish in fifth place in the Coastal Division. As the eighth overall seed in the ACC Tournament, they were defeated by ninth seed Louisville in the First Round in overtime. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and were an unseeded team. They lost in the First Round to James Madison to end their season.

Background edit

The Panthers finished the season 12–5–5 overall and 3–2–3 in ACC play to finish in third place in the Coastal Division. As the sixth overall seed in the ACC Tournament, they defeated eleventh seed NC State in the first round before losing to third seed Virginia in the Quarterfinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and were an unseeded team. They defeated Cleveland State in the First Round, Akron in the Second Round, first overall seed Kentucky in the Third Round, and Portland in the Quarterfinals to make the College Cup. There they lost to Indiana to end their season.

Player movement edit

Players leaving edit

Departures
Name Number Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Reason for Departure
Joe van der Sar 1 GK 6'1" 180 Senior Noordwijk, Netherlands Graudated
Leonardo Andrade 3 MF 6'2" 170 Freshman São Paulo, Brazil Signed with Brave SC
Mohammad Abualnadi 4 DF 6'1" 175 Senior Leawood, Kansas Graduated
Yanis Leerman 5 DF 6'2" 175 Graduate Student Troyes, France Graduated
Lucas Rosa 6 DF 5'8" 163 Graduate Student São Paulo, Brazil Graduated
Valentin Noël 8 MF 5'10" 150 Senior Niort, France Graduated; drafted 20th overall in 2023 MLS SuperDraft
Bertin Jacquesson 10 FW 6'0" 160 Junior Lorrez-le-Bocage-Préaux, France Drafted 16th overall in 2023 MLS SuperDraft
Rodrigo Almeida 11 MF 5'10" 163 Graduate Student Salvador, Brazil Graduated
Ideal Shefqeti 15 MF 6'0" 178 Graduate Student Lignano Sabbiadoro, Italy Graduated
Henrique Gallina 16 DF 6'1" 180 Graduate Student São Paulo, Brazil Graduated
Josh Luchini 19 FW 6'0" 165 Graduate Student Wexford, Pennsylvania Graduated
Djavid Abdullatif 23 FW 6'2" 185 Freshman Itzehoe, Germany Transferred to Coastal Carolina
Jackson Walti 24 MF 5'10" 169 Graduate Student St. Augustine, Florida Graduated; drafted 56th overall in 2023 MLS SuperDraft
Kilian Vallant 31 GK 6'1" 176 Freshman Salzburg, Austria Transferred to Coastal Carolina
Andrew Noel 32 GK 6'5" 197   Freshman Montclair, New Jersey Transferred to Rutgers

Players arriving edit

Incoming Transfers edit

Incoming Transfers
Name Number Pos. Height Year Hometown Previous School
Felipe Mercado 8 MF 5'11" Senior Medellin, Colombia College of Charleston
Joao Souza 11 MF 5'7" Graduate Student Cuiabá, Brazil Marshall
Nick Blacklock 16 MF 5'11" Graduate Student Hellertown, Pennsylvania Virginia Tech
Luka Kozomara 19 MF 6'3" Junior Cliffside Park, New Jersey Temple

Recruiting Class edit

Name Nat. Hometown Club TDS Rating
Ameer Abdullah
DF
  Chicago, Illinois Chicago Fire Academy      [1]
Kyle Durham
GK
  Brooklyn, New York Met Oval Academy N/A
Zahir Dyke
FW
  Kansas City, Missouri Sporting Kansas City Academy N/A
Santiago Ferreira
MF
  Cali, Colombia FC Dallas Academy      [2]
Alex Hauskrecht
FW
  Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Riverhounds Academy N/A
Jackson Moxom
GK
  Milwaukee, Wisconsin FC Cincinnati Academy N/A
Eli Mumford
GK
  Chapel Hill, North Carolina Richmond Kickers      [3]
Massimo Murania
FW
  Queens, New York NYCFC Academy N/A
Albert Thorsen
FW
  Drammen, Norway Strømsgodset Toppfotball N/A

Squad edit

Roster edit

As of January 31, 2024[4]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
0 GK   USA Cabral Carter
1 GK   USA Kyle Durham
2 DF   USA Jackson Gilman
3 DF   FRA Raphael Cilli
5 DF   GER Fabian Grau
7 FW   FRA Abdoulaye Toure
8 MF   COL Felipe Mercado
9 FW   NOR Albert Thorsen
10 MF   BRA Guilherme Feitosa
11 MF   BRA Joao Souza
12 DF   FRA Mateo Maillefaud
13 DF   USA Noah Hall
15 FW   USA Zahir Dyke
16 MF   USA Nick Blacklock
No. Pos. Nation Player
17 FW   USA Luis Sahmkow
18 DF   USA Ameer Abdullah
19 MF   USA Luka Kozomara
20 MF   USA Mateo Stoka
21 MF   SRB Filip Mirkovic
22 MF   FRA Mathys Lefebvre
23 FW   USA Massimo Murania
24 DF   USA Abraham Brown
25 FW   USA Eben McIntyre
26 MF   USA Michael Sullivan
27 FW   USA Alex Hauskrecht
28 MF   USA Santiago Ferreira
31 GK   USA Eli Mumford
32 GK   USA Jack Moxom

Team management edit

Position Staff
Athletic Director Heather Lyke
Head coach Jay Vidovich
Assistant coach Bryce Cregan
Assistant coach Josh Oldroyd
Assistant coach Zack Schilawski

Source:[4]

Schedule edit

Source:[5]

Date
Time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (Attendance)
City, State
Exhibition
August 12*
No. 5 Cleveland State  Not Reported 
Krenzler Field
Cleveland, OH
August 18*
No. 5 Michigan State  Not Reported 
Ambrose Urbanic Field
Pittsburgh, PA
Regular season
August 24*
7:00 p.m.
No. 5 Penn State T 1–1  0–0–1
Ambrose Urbanic Field (2,000)
Pittsburgh, PA
August 28*
:00 p.m.
No. 5 Howard W 5–0  1–0–1
Ambrose Urbanic Field (734)
Pittsburgh, PA
September 1*
4:00 p.m.
No. 8 at Georgetown L 1–4  1–1–1
Shaw Field (977)
Washington, D.C.
September 2*
5:00 p.m.
No. 2 Marshall L 1–3  1–2–1
Ambrose Urbanic Field (1,081)
Pittsburgh, PA
September 9
7:00 p.m.
No. 9 Wake Forest W 3–0  2–2–1
(1–0–0)
Ambrose Urbanic Field (714)
Pittsburgh, PA
September 15
6:00 p.m.
No. 17 at Boston College T 0–0  2–2–2
(1–0–1)
Newton Campus Soccer Field (636)
Chestnut Hill, MA
September 18*
7:00 p.m.
No. 17 Fairleigh Dickinson W 5–1  3–2–2
Ambrose Urbanic Field (419)
Pittsburgh, PA
September 22
7:00 p.m.
at No. 7 Syracuse L 3–2  3–3–2
(1–1–1)
SU Soccer Stadium (1,911)
Syracuse, NY
September 25*
7:00 p.m.
No. 19 Denver W 3–1  4–3–2
Ambrose Urbanic Field (703)
Pittsburgh, PA
September 29
7:00 p.m.
No. 18 North Carolina T 0–0  4–3–3
(1–1–2)
Ambrose Urbanic Field (1,010)
Pittsburgh, PA
October 6
7:00 p.m.
No. 20 Virginia Tech W 3–1  5–3–3
(2–1–2)
Ambrose Urbanic Field (913)
Pittsburgh, PA
October 13
7:00 p.m.
No. ww at Virginia L 1–2  5–4–3
(2–2–2)
Klöckner Stadium (2,551)
Charlottesville, VA
October 17*
7:00 p.m.
No. 23 Duquesne W 2–0  6–4–3
Ambrose Urbanic Field (975)
Pittsburgh, PA
October 21
7:00 p.m.
No. 23 No. 9 Duke T 0–0  6–4–4
(2–2–3)
Ambrose Urbanic Field (1,180)
Pittsburgh, PA
October 27
7:00 p.m.
No. 20 at No. 5 Notre Dame L 0–6  6–5–4
(2–3–3)
Alumni Stadium (2,224)
Notre Dame, IN
ACC Tournament
November 1
8:00 p.m., ACCN
(8) (9) Louisville
First Round
L 1–2 2OT 6–6–4
Ambrose Urbanic Field (717)
Pittsburgh, PA
NCAA Tournament
November 16
7:00 p.m., ESPN+
James Madison
First Round
L 2–3  6–7–4
Ambrose Urbanic Field (764)
Pittsburgh, PA
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from United Soccer Coaches. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Eastern.

Awards and honors edit

Recipient Award Date Ref.
Filip Mirkovic Pre-Season Hermann Trophy Watchlist August 24 [6]
Pre-Season All-ACC Team August 26 [7]
Filip Mirkovic All-ACC First Team November 8, 2023 [8]
Jackson Gilman All-ACC Third Team
Albert Thorsen All-ACC Freshman Team

Rankings edit

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
— = Not ranked RV = Received votes
Week
PollPre123456789101112131415Final
United Soccer[9]58RV17RVRV20112320Not released
TopDrawer Soccer[10]781181616109151020

2024 MLS Super draft edit

Player Team Round Pick # Position
  Filip Mirkovic Orlando City 2 54 MF

Source:[11]

References edit

  1. ^ "Ameer Abdullah". topdrawersoccer.com. Top Drawer Soccer. Retrieved January 31, 2024.
  2. ^ "Santiago Ferreira". topdrawersoccer.com. Top Drawer Soccer. Retrieved January 31, 2024.
  3. ^ "Eli Mumford". topdrawersoccer.com. Top Drawer Soccer. Retrieved January 31, 2024.
  4. ^ a b "2023 Men's Soccer Roster". pittsburghpanthers.com. University of Pittsburgh Athletics. Retrieved January 31, 2024.
  5. ^ "2023 Pitt Men's Soccer Schedule". pittsburghpanthers.com. University of Pittsburgh Athletics. Retrieved January 31, 2024.
  6. ^ "2023 Men's MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List Announced". unitedsoccercoaches.org. United Soccer Coaches. August 24, 2023. Retrieved August 25, 2023.
  7. ^ "Clemson Selected 2023 Preseason ACC Men's Soccer Favorite". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. August 16, 2023. Retrieved August 16, 2023.
  8. ^ "2023 All-ACC Men's Soccer Team Announced". theacc.com. Atlantic Coast Conference. November 8, 2023. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  9. ^ "United Soccer Coaches Top 25 NCAA DI Men — National". unitedsoccercoaches.org. United Soccer Coaches. December 12, 2023. Retrieved December 12, 2023.
  10. ^ "College Soccer National Ranking". topdrawersoccer.com. Top Drawer Soccer. December 11, 2023. Retrieved December 11, 2023.
  11. ^ "Mirkovic Drafted In Second Round of 2024 MLS SuperDraft By Orlando City SC". pittsburghpanthers.com. University of Pittsburgh Athletics. December 19, 2023. Retrieved January 31, 2024.