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Pittsburgh Panthers women's soccer

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Pittsburgh Panthers
2024 Pittsburgh Panthers women's soccer team
Founded1996; 28 years ago (1996)
UniversityUniversity of Pittsburgh
Head coachRandy Waldrum (7th season)
ConferenceACC
LocationPittsburgh, Pennsylvania
StadiumAmbrose Urbanic Field
(Capacity: 735)
NicknamePanthers
ColorsBlue and gold[1]
   
Home
Away
NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals
2023
NCAA Tournament Round of 16
2022, 2023
NCAA Tournament Round of 32
2022, 2023
NCAA Tournament appearances
2022, 2023

The Pittsburgh Panthers women's soccer team represent the University of Pittsburgh in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) of NCAA Division I women's college soccer. The team has never won a conference championship. The Panthers have played in both the ACC and Big East.[2]

History

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1990s

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The Pittsburgh Panthers women's soccer team was founded in 1996 under head coach Roland Sturk and did not play in a conference in the program's first year. The team finished with a 3–16 record. The following year, the team joined the Big East Conference, where Pittsburgh was a full member. The Panthers had fewer losses than their inaugural season, finishing 3–12–3 overall and 2–8–1 in conference play. The team's first conference win came vs. West Virginia on October 8, 1997. 1998 saw continued improvement for the Panthers. The team finished 8–11 overall and 5–7 in conference play. This record was good enough to qualify for the Big East Conference Women's Soccer Tournament. However, the team lost in the quarterfinals. 1999 saw a bit of a regression when the team finished 5–12–1 and 1–4–1 in conference play.

2000s

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The 2000s began similarly for the Panthers, only winning 6 games and losing 12. Another 1 win conference season was not good enough to qualify for the Big East Tournament. 2001 saw another minor improvement, with the team winning 7 games, and increasing its win tally to 2 in conference play. However, 2002 proved to be a disappointing year when the team finished 4–15, and winless in conference play. In January 2003 head coach Roland Sturk resigned as coach.[3] In March 2003, Sue-Moy Chin was named the Panthers' second head coach.[4] Her first seasons saw small improvements, however, the team lost double digit games in 2003, 2004, and 2005. However, the team increased its conference win totals as well and qualified for the Big East Tournament in 2005 and 2006. Both appearances resulted in quarterfinal exits. 2006 was the team's first season without a losing record. The team finished 8–8–3. The team would again reach the quarterfinal of the Big East Tournament in 2008. The team closed the decade with their first-ever winning season, finishing 8–5–5 overall and 3–3–5 in conference play. It was also the first season the team did not have a losing record in conference play.

2010s

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The decade opened with another qualification into the Big East Tournament, and another quarterfinal loss. However, the success would be short lived as the team finished with just 2 wins in 2011. This season would be bad enough for the team to hire a third coach in its history, Greg Miller. Miller was previously an assistant at Ohio State.[5] Miller's first year, 2012, saw the team finish 7–10–2 overall. In his second season in charge, the team began play in the Atlantic Coast Conference.[6] In their first season, the Panthers went a winless 0–13 in ACC play. The team made steady progress finishing with 2 conference wins in 2014 and 4 conference wins in 2015. 2015 would also be the team's second overall winning season. The Panthers finished 10–7–1. However, in 2016 and 2017 the team would win one ACC game. After the 2017 season, Miller was fired.[7] In December 2017, Randy Waldrum was hired as the new head coach.[8] Waldrum previously won the NCAA title twice with Notre Dame. However, his first season proved difficult, only winning 4 overall games and finishing 0–10 in ACC play. In his second season, the Panthers posted their first ACC win since 2016, finishing with a 2–6–2 ACC record.

2020s

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The decade started with a season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Panthers' season was shortened less than other teams in the conference, as they played eight non-conference games. The team finished tenth overall in the ACC regular season, with a 3–5–0 record. They won all eight of those non-conference games to finish the season with eleven total wins, setting a program record. 2021 saw a return to a more normal schedule for the Panthers and they finished 11–7–0 and 4–6–0 in the ACC to tie for ninth place. Their four conference wins tied for the teams most since they joined the ACC, with the other time being in 2015. In 2022, the Panthers finished 14–5–3 and 5–3–2 in ACC play. The 14 wins were the most in program history at the time, and the five conference wins were tied for the most in program history. They qualified for their first ever ACC Tournament and their first NCAA Tournament in program history.[9] They reached the Round of 16 before falling to Florida State to end their historic season. 2023 would follow in the success of 2022, as the Panthers finished 17–6–1 overall and 6–3–1 in ACC play. This was a program record for wins and conference wins, bettering their marks from the previous season. They again qualified for the ACC and NCAA Tournaments, and recorded their best finishes in those tournaments in program history. They made the Semifinals of the ACC Tournament and Quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament before being defeated by Florida State in both tournaments.

Personnel

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Current roster

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As of 13 Sep 2024[10]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player
0 GK United States USA Ellie Breech
1 GK United States USA Abigail Reisz
2 DF United States USA Haylee Mersereau
3 MF Canada CAN Magali Gagne
4 MF United States USA Ellie Coffield
5 FW United States USA Sarah Schupansky
6 MF United States USA Briana Rodriguez
7 FW Canada CAN Sofia Doheny
8 MF Nigeria NGA Deborah Abiodun
9 FW United States USA Lucia Wells
10 MF Canada CAN Keera Melenhorst
11 DF United States USA Mackenzie Evers
12 DF United States USA Sage Stelzer
13 DF United States USA Ashley Moon
14 DF United States USA Olivia Lee
15 MF Canada CAN Chloe Minas
16 FW United States USA Margaret Wilde
17 FW United States USA Aliya Gomes
18 FW United States USA Paige Dzeidzic
No. Pos. Nation Player
19 DF United States USA Grace Pettet
20 MF Nigeria NGA Celine Ottah
21 DF United States USA Katie Zailski
22 FW United States USA Bailey Wagenknecht
23 FW United States USA Samiah Phiri
24 MF United States USA Emma Rhoades
25 DF United States USA Coco Dorfman
26 FW United States USA Ava Boyd
27 FW United States USA Dakota Watterson
28 FW United States USA Chloe Brecht
29 MF United States USA Olivia Duray
30 FW United States USA Kaitlyn Killinger
31 FW United States USA Emily Cooper
32 DF United States USA Erika Schneider
33 GK United States USA Emma Van Meter
34 MF United States USA Rylee Keely
35 DF United States USA Emily Graeca
86 FW United States USA Lola Abraham
DF United States USA Bella Haynes

Team management

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Position Staff
Head Coach Randy Waldrum
Associate Head Coach Ben Waldrum
Assistant Coach Jesse Goleman
Assistant Coach Ashton Gordon

Seasons

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Season Head coach[11] Season result[12] Tournament results
Overall Conference Conference NCAA
Wins Losses Ties Wins Losses Ties
Independent
1996 Roland Sturk 3 16 0 No Conference
Big East Conference
1997 Roland Sturk 3 12 3 2 8 1
1998 8 11 0 5 7 0 Quarterfinal
1999 5 12 1 1 4 1
2000 6 12 1 1 5 0
2001 7 9 1 2 4 0
2002 4 15 0 0 6 0
2003 Sue-Moy Chin 5 10 2 1 4 1
2004 6 10 1 2 7 1
2005 4 11 3 3 6 2 Quarterfinal
2006 8 8 3 3 6 2 Quarterfinal
2007 6 10 2 1 8 2
2008 7 12 1 4 6 1 Quarterfinal
2009 8 5 5 3 3 5
2010 7 11 2 4 6 1 Quarterfinal
2011 2 13 4 1 8 2
2012 Greg Miller 7 10 2 2 6 2
Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC)
2013 Greg Miller 4 14 1 0 13 0
2014 6 12 0 2 8 0
2015 10 7 1 4 6 0
2016 2 15 1 1 9 0
2017 3 12 3 0 9 1
2018 Randy Waldrum 4 12 1 0 10 0
2019 5 10 3 2 6 2
2020 11 5 0 3 5 0
2021 11 7 0 4 6 0
2022 14 5 3 5 3 2 First round Round of 16
2023 17 6 1 6 3 1 Semifinal Quarterfinals
2024 In progress
Totals 151 210 23 47 110 8

Notable alumni

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Current professional players

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References

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  1. ^ "Color Palette". Pitt Athletics Brand Identity Manual (PDF). February 9, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2024.
  2. ^ "2016 Women's Soccer Media Guide & Fact Book" (PDF). pittsburghpanthers.com. University of Pittsburgh. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
  3. ^ "Roland Sturk Resigns as Head Women's Soccer Coach". pittsburghpanthers.com. University of Pittsburgh Athletics. January 17, 2003. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  4. ^ "Sue-Moy Chin Named Head Women's Soccer Coach". pittsburghpanthers.com. University of Pittsburgh Athletics. March 27, 2003. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  5. ^ "Pitt names Greg Miller Head Soccer Coach". ohiostatebuckeyes.com. Ohio State University. January 1, 2012. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  6. ^ Gates, Chris (July 18, 2012). "4-1-Zoo: It's Official, Pitt Moves To The ACC In 2013". CBS Pittsburgh. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  7. ^ Batko, Brian (November 3, 2017). "Pitt fires women's soccer coach Greg Miller". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  8. ^ Meyer, Craig (December 19, 2017). "Pitt hires Randy Waldrum as women's soccer coach". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  9. ^ "Pitt women's soccer team makes first ever ncaa tournament". post-gazette.com. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. November 7, 2022. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  10. ^ "Women's soccer roster". pittsburghpanthers.com. University of Pittsburgh Athletics.
  11. ^ 2016 Media Guide, pp. 37
  12. ^ 2016 Media Guide, pp. 58–60
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