Pitt men’s soccer team gets No. 1 seed in ACC tourney

The Pitt men’s soccer team has been out of commission since late October, as it put a temporary stop to all team activities as a result of COVID-19 protocols. However, the team has maintained its status as the No. 1 team in the nation, and on Friday, the ACC announced that the Panthers had been awarded the No. 1 seed in the North region in the ACC tournament.

As a result of its seeding, Pitt will face Duke, a No. 4 seed in the South region. The first round of the tournament will be played on the campuses of Duke, North Carolina, NC State and Wake Forest. So Pitt will not be granted home-field advantage and will instead face Duke on NC State’s campus in Raleigh, North Carolina, 24 miles away from Duke’s campus.

Wake Forest, the No. 1 seed in the South region, and North Carolina, the No. 2 seed in the South region, will both host opponents on their campuses in the quarterfinals. Venues for the semifinals will be announced after the quarterfinals, and the ACC championship game will be played at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, North Carolina, at noon on Nov. 22.

Pitt has yet to face Duke this season, but the Panthers prevailed in the two teams’ last meeting on Oct. 25, 2019, winning 4-3 over the Blue Devils in Durham, North Carolina. Prior to that game, Duke had Pitt’s number and had never lost to Pitt in the seven matches they played since Pitt joined the ACC in 2013.

This season, the teams’ records tell a tale of one team on the rise and one team falling on hard times, as No. 1 Pitt is 5-0-0, and unranked Duke is 2-5-0. Should Pitt advance past Duke, it would face either a 3-3-0 Notre Dame team it beat 3-1 on Sept. 26 or a 3-1-2 North Carolina team ranked No. 4 in the country.

The first round of the tournament kick off on Nov. 15, and Pitt will face Duke at 6 p.m. ET that day. The ACC Network will air the game.