Pitt men's soccer rolls over Monmouth, reaches NCAA Tournament Sweet 16

Jay Vidovich didn’t set any goals or deadlines for his team when he was hired in 2015 to restore pride and competitiveness to Pitt’s men’s soccer.

“I just felt that within several years we could be conducting ourselves as a championship program,” he said. “We’re getting closer to doing that.”

After winning the ACC Coastal championship and getting a second consecutive berth in the NCAA Tournament this season, Pitt advanced to the Sweet 16 for the first time Sunday night with a 6-1 victory against Monmouth at Bryan Park in Greensboro, N.C.

The victory was Pitt’s second all-time in the NCAA Tournament in only its fourth appearance (1962, ’65 and 2019). The Panthers (14-3) will play Central Florida (9-3-1) at 3 p.m. Thursday at WakeMed Park in Cary, N.C.

Pitt had losing records from 2009-2018, a stretch that included five consecutive seasons (2012-2016) without a conference victory.

But Vidovich never doubted that he and his players could reverse the misfortunes of the program.

“I was hoping to, for sure,” he said when asked if he thought he could reach the tournament’s Sweet 16 so soon. “Was it realistic? I don’t know. I kind of believed in myself and what we can do.”

Pitt put its considerable talent on display Sunday against Monmouth (6-3-1) of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conferene. Pitt started slowly, but took a 2-0 lead after the first half and controlled most of the action in the second while setting a season-high for goals.

Goalkeeper Nico Campuzano had three saves while tying a program record for victories in a season (14).

Sophomore Valentin Noel, the ACC Offensive Player of the Year, scored Pitt’s first goal — his 12th of the season — 24 minutes, 26 seconds into the game after tracking down a long pass by Raphael Crivello from beyond midfield. He quickly settled the ball and scored.

The goal was no accident.

“It was something that we had spoken with Raphael ahead of time,” Vidovich said. “They were trying to press us high. Great recognition of the space.”

Pitt is 14-0 when scoring first, and it didn’t take long for the Panthers to establish their dominance.

Bryce Washington made it 2-0 14 minutes later on a header from Veljko Petkovic’s corner kick, his first of two assists.

Vidovich said corner kicks have been a major asset for his team this spring.

“We’ve been able to manufacture goals,” he said. “The timing was good. The service was good. I’m just really happy with that. It’s something you’re going to need at sometime or another to help you through.”

Pitt seized a 3-0 lead early in the second half when sophomore Alexander Dexter managed to get his foot on the ball in heavy traffic around the net and score his sixth goal of the season. Petkovic recorded the assist.

Pitt was credited with its fourth goal when the Panthers controlled play near the net, and the ball ended up bouncing off Monmouth midfielder George Akampeke and across the goal line. Junior Rodrigo Almeida scored Pitt’s fifth goal, his first of the season, with help from Jasper Loeffelsend’s eighth assist.

The last two goals of the game came off penalty kicks, first by Monmouth’s Julian Gomez and 11 minutes later by Pitt senior Sito Seno.

Notably, freshman Bertin Jacquesson, whose cross led to the fourth goal when the ball deflected off Akampeke, is observing the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, along with teammate Anas Amrani. From dawn to sunset, they are fasting, consuming no food or water.

It’s been a strange month of inactivity for Pitt. The game was only the Panthers’ second in the past 24 days.

Keeping the players sharp hasn’t been difficult for Vidovich, who said he keeps referring to the 2-0 loss to Clemson on April 17 in the NCAA automatic qualifying game.

“They gave us a lesson on how to compete in a big game,” he said. “They understand we had to mature quite a bit competitively.”

Without games to play, the intensity in practice grew.

”They did a great job of pushing every single day,” Vidovich said. “We upped our physical load. We upped our intensity in training and competitiveness.”