Pitt's Jay Vidovich carries Hoosier ties into College Cup match with Indiana

Jay Vidovich readily admits the truth about his one-year stay as a player at Indiana under legendary soccer coach Jerry Yeagley.

“I wasn’t good enough for the program,” Pitt’s coach said. “I was coach Yeagley’s East Coast experiment.”

So, after that 1978 season, Vidovich, a graduate of New Canaan (Conn.) High School, transferred to Ohio Wesleyan for his final three seasons of collegiate eligibility. A year later, he embarked on a coaching career that, after nearly four decades, has come full circle.

Vidovich will be on the Pitt sideline Friday night at WakeMed Soccer Park in Cary, N.C. (on ESPNU), matching soccer wits and talented players in a College Cup semifinal against Indiana.

In front of the opposite bench will be Yeagley’s son, Todd, the Hoosiers coach.

“He’s got some IU love in there somewhere,” Yeagley said.

The game matches two of the finest teams — and coaches — in college soccer. Pitt is 16-3 and the No. 2-seeded team in the NCAA Tournament. Big Ten champion Indiana (11-1-2) hasn’t allowed more than one goal in any game this season.

Vidovich and Yeagley have won national championships: Vidovich at Wake Forest in 2007 and Yeagley at Indiana in 2012.

Jerry and Todd Yeagley are the only father-son combination to win NCAA soccer championships. Jerry won six, building the program from a club sport — he and his players lined the field while his wife, Marilyn, did the team’s laundry — into a national power.

“He still makes me feel like family to this day,” Vidovich said of Jerry Yeagley. “He always did that when I transferred out. His wife, Marilyn, still calls me by my first name when we meet at conventions.

“I learned a tremendous amount from coach Yeagley, how to run a program, how to treat people. (Observing) his drive for success, the way he did things, even though I was a young man, was a tremendous experience. It left a big mark on me.”

Pitt and Indiana have some recent history. The teams met in the 2019 season opener, with Indiana rallying from a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2 in double overtime at Jerry Yeagley Field in Bloomington, Ind.

Vidovich quickly squelched talk of wanting to win to gain redemption. No one needs to tell him there are higher rewards at stake.

“I’m one of those guys who want to win all the time. It’s not really about the last game there,” he said. “Bottom line is that was a whole different team on our side and a whole different team on their side. We both lost some players who were very good and also formed a new chemistry and new identity since that time.”

In fact, Indiana defenseman Nyk Sessock played for Pitt in that game before transferring.

“It’s more of excitement to play them,” Vidovich said. “In my career, I’ve had a chance to play them several times, and it’s always been a tremendous match. The storyline in that game, we did go up 2-0. I thought the game was in hand for us to win, especially at halftime. IU took the game.”

Which was no surprise to Vidovich.

“They have that DNA where they find ways to win,” he said. “Winning’s in their DNA since coach (Jerry) Yeagley started it.”

Note: A program-record five Pitt players were named to the men’s United Soccer Coaches South All-Region Team. Graduate students Nico Campuzano and Jasper Loeffelsend and sophomore Valentin Noel are the first first-team players in school history. Sophomore Veljko Petkovic earned second-team honors, and junior Jackson Walti was chosen for the third team. … Noel was named a finalist for the MAC Hermann Trophy, considered the most coveted individual honor in NCAA Division I soccer.