Pitt's NCAA College Cup run ends with semifinal loss to Indiana

No. 3 Indiana has been to the NCAA College Cup 21 times, winning eight national titles, and although No. 2 Pitt put up a fight in the semifinals Friday night in Cary, N.C., the Hoosiers showed why they’ve had so much success.

In the 79th minute, Indiana sophomore Herbert Endeley made a run on the right sideline and delivered the go-ahead goal with a shot above the right shoulder of Pitt goalkeeper Nico Campuzano, giving the Hoosiers a 1-0 victory.

It was just the second shot on goal for the Hoosiers and their seventh shot overall, but it took Indiana just one moment to earn a possible ninth national championship. Sometimes in soccer, all it takes is one opportunity, and although the Panthers had a 14-7 shot advantage and controlled possession throughout the match, the Hoosiers were the ones that came out ahead.

After the game, Pitt coach Jay Vidovich, who helped lead Wake Forest to a national championship in 2007, made sure to let his players know that a game like this is just something that they can learn from moving forward.

“This game is loved throughout the world because the underdogs can sometimes win, and I’m not saying Pitt was the underdog nor Indiana, but I for sure thought we dominated the game,” Vidovich said. “That I think makes it special. Going in there, sometimes the team that dominates doesn’t always win, and we can take that as a lesson.”

The Hoosiers will play Marshall, which defeated North Carolina 1-0 in the first semifinal, in the final.

The Panthers, who entered their first College Cup semifinal matchup as the highest remaining seed in the tournament, controlled the match for most of the night. They held possession, worked the ball from end to end and created several chances.

Midfielder Filip Mirkovic delivered a shot in the 57th minute that hit the crossbar and dropped straight down onto the goal line. After a short review, play continued.

Valentin Noel, who was named one of three finalists for the MAC Hermann Trophy, which is considered the most prestigious individual honor in college soccer, led the Panthers in shots with Veljko Petkovic at three apiece. At times throughout the game, Pitt captain Jackson Walti said it just didn’t seem like things would go their way.

Two of Noel’s chances came on headers inside the 6-yard box, but both were swatted away by Indiana goalkeeper Roman Celentano.

“We got close a couple of times,” Walti said. “The soccer gods just weren’t looking down on us today. But I thought we did a good job after the goal was conceded. We stepped up as a team, with however many minutes were left, and got three or more chances out of that and kept possession and continued to play our soccer.”

With as many close opportunities as the Panthers had Friday night, Vidovich thought that someone was going to find the net sooner or later. Given that the Panthers had only been shut out twice all season, they were bound to find the back of the net.

“I thought it was going to come through,” Vidovich said. “They got the goal at a perfect time for them because it was just enough time where if we make a mistake, they could get their second one and put a knife in us. It was very hard to come back. We just didn’t have enough time. Right up to the end, if you look at the corner kicks we had and the long-distance shots by Jackson, we were moving on them.”

The Panthers put one of the best seasons together in program history this year, and it was the product of the work they’ve put in since Vidovich’s arrival in Pittsburgh.

In 2016, Vidovich’s first year at the helm, the Panthers went 2-16-3 and have slowly been building the program from the bottom up. With a recruiting focus that has brought in some international flavor with players from overseas and a focused approach on becoming a championship-caliber program, the Panthers have become one of the best soccer teams in the country.

This season saw them tally the most wins in program history and hold the No. 1 ranking in the country, and Friday’s semifinal performance marked their deepest tournament run in program history. The Panthers have built their resume, and Walti said they are here to stay.

“The journey to get here hasn’t just been a one season thing. It’s been the last five seasons in the works since coach got to Pitt and took the job,” Walti said. “I think we’ve grown as a program over those five years tremendously and this year was a phenomenal step up. We’ve done a lot of growing up, a lot of maturing, and we played some of the best soccer in the country. We showed that we were not just here for a short stint at the top. We’re here to stay and leave our mark on college soccer, not just this year but in the years following.”

Heading into Friday night’s contest, the Panthers had outscored their three NCAA tournament opponents 13-1.