Pitt women defeat Buffalo, 1-0, advance in 1st NCAA Tournament

The Pitt women’s soccer team’s first venture into the NCAA Tournament will continue after a 1-0 victory Saturday night against visiting Buffalo at Ambrose Urbanic Field.

Leah Pais’ header goal in the 85th minute — five minutes from the end of the game — vaulted No. 19 Pitt into the second round at 2 p.m. Friday against Georgetown (15-1-5) in Tallahassee, Fla. The Hoyas advanced with a 1-0 victory against Hofstra on Saturday.

The winner will play either No. 1 overall seed Florida State or No. 8-seeded LSU in the third round Nov. 20 in Tallahassee.

Pitt improved its record to 13-4-3 while Buffalo bowed out at 15-2-4.

“It’s just amazing. We keep breaking barriers,” Pais said. “When you believe in each other and when you believe in the power of what you all can do on the field, you can make things possible. We believe in that every single day.”

Pais scored her eighth goal of the season with an assist by Anna Bout, her seventh.

“Overall, I’m really, really proud of the performance of the team, outside of not being a little more clinical around goal,” coach Randy Waldrum said. “I thought we dominated the possession and dominated the opportunities with all the looks that we had.

“We had a few mental lapses defensively, but, overall, I thought we held them in check from a defensive standpoint. Obviously, getting our first-ever postseason win, we’re extremely excited about.”