FINAL: Pitt 1, Duquesne 0

We'll get our first look at both Pitt and Duquesne men's teams on Sunday as they face each other in preseason friendly at Ambrose Urbanic Field

Pitt 1, Duquesne 0 – Final – (Men’s soccer exhibition)

Ambrose Urbanic Field

GAME NOTES:

2nd half 

In the 56th minute, creating a chance on the left side that leads to shot from Alexander Dexter that goes in, but Pitt were offside.

Dexter follows up that effort with another chance from edge of box. Second shot missed right

Duquesne called for an apparent handball that might have kept ball from going into goal in 58th minute.

Dexter steps up to take penalty kick, but is stopped cold by McKelvey. Nice save!

GOAL –  Pitt leads 1-0. Alexander Dexter (70th minute) 

This time the Panthers finally convert on 11th shot attempt of match that eminated from corner kick. Pitt kept it alive in the box with multiple headers, and it was Dexter who hit it home for the lead.

The Panthers formation looks very much like what we saw a lot of from coach Jay Vidovich last season. It’s a 4-2-3-1. The two holding mids stay right in front of the back four. They love to use outside backs to get out and stretch the field when they have possession.

Duquesne with a strong build-up all the way into the box, that leads to a shot being blocked. Solid effort by the Dukes.

Duquesne were full of energy early in the match, and have showed positive signs of possession at times against the ACC side.

First shot on target for Dukes in second half — comes after long free kick to right side is headed to keeper Alex Steinbach who easily handles it.

Duquesne gets another decent chance late in the 89th minute on a counter. One of  Pitt defenders gets in front of shot that was going into open goal with a nice block.

Final game stats available:

Shots – Pitt (11-5)

Corners – Pitt (6-0)

Saves – McKelvey, Duq (6); Steinbach, Pitt (1)

1st half

Duquesne provided some high pressure forcing Pitt’s back line into some mistakes to create the game’s first three shot attempts in the first thirty minutes.

Finally, Pitt gets into the box, and Edward Kizza with a chance but Duquesne’s keeper Robbie McKelvey makes a nice save around the 30th minute. It was Chandler Vaughn, the DC United Academy product that set that one up from the left side.

Marconi Pimentel who had an outstanding freshman season last year, has been impressive in attacking midfield role for Pitt — and he also gets a quality shot right at McKelvey who had to punch it away.

Halftime stats: Pitt with edge on shots (4-3) and corners (3-0). McKelvey made three saves.

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Pitt vs Duquesne Men’s Exhibition Preview 

I will be on hand on Sunday night to get a first look at both University of Pittsburgh and Duquesne University’s men’s soccer teams as they open exhibition play in a renewal of the ‘City Game’ at 7 p.m. at Ambrose Urbanic Field in the Petersen Sports Complex.

Admission is free if you can make it out — or you can follow along on Twitter (@Pghsoccerscribe) and I’ll post some live updates here on this blog, but don’t expect a full blow-by-blow.

Leading up to Sunday’s scrimmage, here are some notes from each program:

PITT 2017 SEASON IN REVIEW

·       Pitt amassed an 8-10 overall record while collecting multiple marquee wins.

·       The Panthers earned the program’s first wins over ranked opponents since 2008 after producing victories against No. 7 Notre Dame, No. 13 Columbia and No. 21 Syracuse.

·       Pitt’s wins over the Orange and Fighting Irish were also its first conference victories since joining the ACC in 2013.

·       The Panthers also defeated longtime rivals West Virginia and Penn State during the season, including a dominate 7-0 victory against the Mountaineers.

·       Pitt’s seven goals marked the 28^th time in program history that the team had achieved the feat and the first time since 1998.

Here’s my 1-on-1 interview with Pitt’s coach Jay Vidovich last month

JAY VIDOVICH – PGH SOCCER NOW 1-on-1

SYNOPSIS OF THE PITT SQUAD

·       Pitt returns 13 players from last year’s squad, including senior Javi Perez, who earned All-ACC Second Team honors, as well as sophomores Alexander Dexter and Edward Kizza, who were both named to the ACC All-Freshman Team.

·       The Panthers will also welcome 12 new players into the fold, with a mix of freshmen and transfers.

·       Senior Peter Prescott, a transfer from Creighton, and redshirt senior Shane Wiedt, a transfer from Akron, both have experience making deep NCAA College Cup runs with their former teams.

DUKES LOOKING FOR BOUNCE-BACK SEASON 

·    We will have much more on Duquesne in the coming week. Our Zac Weiss will be filing his preview soon, and I will have a 1-on-1 with Head Coach Chase Brooks as well.

·   The Dukes finished the 2017 season with a 3-13-1 overall record, including a 1-7 mark in conference play.

·   Brooks enters his sixth year at the helm and owns a 34-43-12 record with the program.

·   Duquesne returns 11 players from the 2017 roster while welcoming 15 newcomers.

LOOKING AHEAD

·       Pitt will conclude preseason play after traveling to University Park, Pa., to face Penn State Saturday, Aug. 18 at 7 p.m. while Duquesne plays one final exhibition vs Bowling Green at home on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Rooney Field. 

·       The Panthers will open regular season competition Friday, Aug. 24 when they welcome Colgate to the Petersen Sports Complex.  Duquesne opens the season on the same night, at Marshall University (WV). Both games kickoff at 7 p.m.