No. 13 Pitt men’s soccer team blanks Cleveland State 4-0

The No. 13 Pitt men’s soccer team took on Cleveland State at Ambrose Urbanic Field on Tuesday, and the result was a decisive 4-0 shutout that elevated the Panthers to 7-3.

Pitt got the ball rolling in the 24th minute, when Panthers midfielder Rodrigo Almeida sent a ball into the box for Panthers midfielder Guilherme Feitosa, which Feitosa put away to give Pitt a 1-0 lead. The Panthers would continue to apply pressure after that, as they outshot the Vikings 11-3 in the half. But Pitt would only have one goal at the break.

In the second half, Pitt continued to outshoot Cleveland State by a wide margin, and that paid off in the 69th minute, when Panthers forward Bertin Jacquesson found the back of the net to double Pitt’s lead. And in the final 20 minutes, Panthers backups Michael Sullivan and Lucas Matuszewski got in on the action, with each posting the first goal of their career to give the Panthers their final 4-0 advantage.

Feitosa’s performance was especially notable, as his first-half goal proved to be the game-winner. And with him scoring the golden goal in Pitt’s 3-2 double-overtime win over Syracuse last Friday, the Brazilian freshman not only scored back-to-back goals for Pitt but back-to-back game-winners to start his career.

With the win, Pitt finally appears to be finding its footing, as the team now sits at 7-3 after a rocky start to the season. The 4-0 victory was the team’s fifth shutout of the season and fifth win in its last six games. Of course, the matchup was also a brief reprieve from ACC competition, and the question moving forward will be whether Pitt can continue to perform like this against the nation’s best teams.

Pitt will certainly be put to the test in its next matchup, as the team is set to face No. 3 Duke at Ambrose Urbanic Field on Saturday night. That top-25 tilt is set to kick off at 7 p.m. ET with the top spot in the Coastal on the line.