No. 2 Pitt defeats No. 5 Virginia 3-2 in top five men’s soccer matchup

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Sophomore Arturo Ordoñez’s golden goal header from classmate Raphaël Crivello lifted the second-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers over No. 5 Virginia, 3-2, in overtime Sunday night at Klockner Stadium.

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News & Notes

• The overtime victory is the second this season for the Panthers. Pitt defeated Syracuse on Oct. 6, 3-2, in double OT.
• With the win, Pitt ties its best start to a season since 2010 at 4-0. The 3-0 start in Atlantic Coast Conference play is the best in program history.
• Sophomore Valentin Noel scored twice for his second multi-score game in as many contests. Noel now leads the team with four goals on the year.
• The goal for Ordoñez was the first of his career and third game-winner from a Panther this season.

“We played a quality opponent who pushed us and stayed in the game until the very end,” said head coach Jay Vidovich. “Our guys still have room to grow and we are going to continue to mature, but I think this was a really great growth moment for us. It didn’t go right for us at the end of regulation but they found a way to win it.”

Noel scored the first goal of the contest just three minutes in, as the Niort, France, native took a ricochet off an Ordoñez shot from the post and volleyed in the score. The goal was the second-straight contest a Panther has scored in the third minute of the game.

At the 27:56 mark, Noel again found the back of the net with help from graduate student Jasper Löeffelsend. Löeffelsend crossed the ball in from right to left to Noel, who gathered a fortunate bounce off a Cavalier defender and found the left side of the net to put the Panthers up 2-0.

The score remained the same at half, with Pitt totaling a 10-2 shot advantage after 45 minutes.

Virginia pressured the 18-yard box heavily in the second half, and in the 66^th minute, scored its first goal off the foot of Kaya Ignacio. The Panthers kept Virginia at bay until the closing minute of the contest, as Nick Berghold knotted the game up at two with just 49 seconds to spare in regulation. Ignacio passed it off to Berghold with his back heel and Berghold took two dribbles to his right and found the left side of the goal for the equalizer.

The Cavaliers outshot the Panthers, 9-4, in the second half and entered overtime with a 6-3 advantage in corners.

Pitt, who defeated Syracuse 3-2 in double overtime on Oct. 6, quickly maneuvered the ball into Virginia territory. Senior Matt Bailey, who came on late as a substitute, forced a Pitt corner, deflecting the ball off a Cavalier defender. Crivello took the corner and found Ordoñez from eight yards out, who headed it in to the right side of the net. The game-winner was the second overtime victory for the Panthers this season and third game-winning goal of the year.

“It was a team effort,” said Vidovich. “Matt Bailey coming in off the bench made a tremendous difference for us who helped earn that corner kick that got us the win. Big moment for us and we took advantage of it.”

“We played a quality opponent who pushed us and stayed in the game until the very end,” said head coach Jay Vidovich. “Our guys still have room to grow and we are going to continue to mature, but I think this was a really great growth moment for us. It didn’t go the right for us at the end of regulation but they found a way to win it.”

Pitt ended the game with 15 shots, compared to Virginia’s 11. Both teams recorded six shots on goal. Graduate student Nico Campuzano had four saves in the complete game effort.

Pitt stays on the road for its final road contest of the fall Friday, Oct. 23 at Louisville. Kick-off is slated for 7 PM on the ACCNX.