Pitt men’s soccer team releases spring schedule

The Pitt men’s soccer team is preparing to resume its season after a two-month break, and it released its schedule on Monday afternoon. The nine-game slate features an intriguing exhibition match, two out-of-conference tilts and six ACC contests.

Pitt will kick off its spring schedule with an exhibition game against defending national champion Georgetown on Feb. 13 at Ambrose Urbanic Field. The last time the two teams met, a less developed Panthers squad suffered a 5-0 defeat to the Hoyas in the second round of the 2019 NCAA tournament. Georgetown went on to win the tournament, so there was no shame in the loss. But the matchup will serve as a good measure of Pitt’s progress.

After Georgetown, Pitt is slated for out-of-conference matchups with Akron and Duquesne, which will be played at Ambrose Urbanic Field on Feb. 20 and Feb. 27. Akron was a perennial contender until 2019, when it posted its first losing record since 1992. The team did not play in 2020, so the game at Pitt will be its first chance to right the ship.

When Pitt delves into its ACC schedule, it will see some familiar foes, as the team beat Duke, Notre Dame, Virginia and Virginia Tech en route to a No. 1 seed in the conference tournament in 2020. With that said, it has yet to face North Carolina or Boston College since the start of the season. So they present new challenges.

Pitt will resume play with a 7-1 record, and it will be coming off a 2-1 loss to Clemson in the ACC championship game. At the time, Pitt was the No. 1 team in the country and Clemson was No. 2. In the most recent United Soccer Coaches poll, which was released on Nov. 24, Pitt was ranked No. 2 in the nation.

The second portion of the ACC season will conclude with a divisional championship between the top seeds in the Atlantic and Coastal divisions of the conference. The winner of that matchup will then face tournament champion Clemson for the ACC’s automatic bid for the NCAA tournament.

The game for the automatic bid will be played on April 18 at noon. Then, the NCAA tournament will get underway on April 24 and run through May 17. Thirty-six teams will participate, with 24 being auto bids.

Pitt's full schedule can be seen below.

Feb. 13: vs. Georgetown (exhibition)
Feb. 20: vs. Akron
Feb. 27: vs. Duquesne
March 5: at North Carolina
March 12: vs. Boston College
March 19: at Duke
March 27: at Virginia Tech
April 3: vs. Notre Dame
April 8: vs. Virginia