Pitt men’s soccer triumphs over NC State in ACC tourney

The Pitt men’s soccer team hosted its first-ever ACC tournament game at Ambrose Urbanic Field on Sunday afternoon with NC State as its opponent, and the result was a thrilling 2-1 overtime victory for the Panthers.

Panthers forward Edward Kizza opened up the scoring in the 13th minute, as he got behind Wolf Pack defender Pablo Pedregosa and finished off a one-timer set up by Alexander Dexter. Wolf Pack goalkeeper Vincent Durand slid to his left to attempt a save but came up short, allowing Pitt to take a 1-0 lead.

Pitt would ride that one-goal advantage into halftime, but NC State would even the score eight minutes into the second frame, as Wolf Pack midfielder George Asomani got the better of Panthers goalkeeper Arie Ammann in the 54th minute. That goal would go unanswered by Pitt in regulation, forcing overtime.

As always, the first overtime period was scheduled for 10 minutes, but it was cut short by Kizza, who was once again assisted by Dexter. From just outside the box, Dexter tapped the ball in to Kizza who slotted a shot between Durand and the left post for the win.

”We had a tremendous start to the match,” Pitt head coach Jay Vidovich said after the game. “We had some quick counters, and we were finding some joy in that. ... Then I think we kind of faulted out a little bit. We just tried to hang on in the half, and I think that continued in the second half. Overtime, I couldn’t have asked anything more of the guys from their heart and mentality to tactically what they did.”

With the win, Pitt moves on to the third round of the ACC tournament, where the team will meet the winner of Sunday night’s matchup between Clemson and Notre Dame. The third-round matchup will be played at the home field of the higher-seeded team, meaning Pitt, the fourth seed, will either host eighth-seeded Notre Dame or visit top-seeded Clemson on Nov. 13. The time has yet to be announced.