Pulse of Pittsburgh Soccer: College men, high school 2023 campaigns kick off this week

Photo courtesy Zachary M. Weiss

Where do we start?

All three of Pittsburgh area Division I women’s soccer college programs started their seasons this past week, picking up wins in five of six matches.

Took care of our home turf and moved to 2⃣-0⃣ on the year!

📰: https://t.co/A19f8CUEb8#H2P pic.twitter.com/1UnDETaD2h

— Pitt Women's Soccer (@Pitt_WSOC) August 20, 2023

Now that's a home opener!

📰 & 📊: https://t.co/wxh3fjn3cN#GoDukes pic.twitter.com/ungSbywS85

— Duquesne Women's Soccer (@DuqWSoccer) August 20, 2023

The Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC remain in first place despite losing last Wednesday on the road, 1-0, to the hottest team in the USL Championship, Orange County SC.  In the USL Championship’s Eastern Conference standings, the Hounds (13-5-8 | W-L-D, 47 points) stay ahead of Tampa Bay (who defeated Tulsa FC, 1-0), by three points, and Charleston by four.  This week, with eight matches in the regular season remaining, Bob Lilley’s squad will look to build more points as they stay on the road with two matches, on Wednesday at Hartford and Saturday against defending league champion, San Antonio FC.  Anything less than four points will give Tampa Bay and Charleston opportunities to jump ahead.

Our Pittsburgh Soccer Now team has been on top of things, providing previews last week for each of the women’s programs, and we have game recaps from each squad’s match.

Now it’s the college men’s teams’ turn to begin their seasons, as Pitt, Duquesne and Robert Morris all kick off on Thursday, and each with lofty expectations.

Pitt reloaded in some key positions, but they also have some key returning talent and leaders from the squad that made it to the College Cup in 2022.  Duquesne has a lot of players back from the past couple of seasons where they’ve been a program that has served notice in the Atlantic 10 and beyond under the careful guidance of Chase Brooks.  The Dukes have aspirations to push for an Atlantic 10 Championship again, as they finished runner-up in 2021 and were nationally ranked in 2022.   Robert Morris has a new coach, Jonathan Potter as they’re looking to continue to build upon momentum from the previous couple seasons under the helm of Jason O’Keefe, who resigned in November.

Will this be the year that Jay Vidovich can lead Pitt not only back to the College Cup, but win the NCAA Championship?

That remains to be seen, as the Panthers are still working on building team chemistry and will likely have at least a few new starters in their rotation early in the season. Pitt will open up at home on Thursday against in-state rival Penn State, The Panthers will be led by senior midfielder Filip Mirkovic, who was named to the United Soccer Coaches’ Midfielders to Watch list and had the opportunity to .

Vidovich, as usual, won’t back down from any challenges, as he discussed this intent to pack the Panthers’ schedule with tough non-conference matches in addition to the ACC gauntlet.

One of the best in the game 💪@Pitt_MSOC Head Coach, Jay Vidovich, sat down with @AMcDevittTV to discuss the upcoming season.#NCAASoccer pic.twitter.com/95PC4OrHIN

— NCAA Soccer (@NCAASoccer) August 20, 2023

Look this week for previews to come on the three DI men’s teams from Dominic Campbell (Pitt), Zac Weiss (Duquesne) and Matt Popchock (Robert Morris), including Dominic’s feature (*) with more from Vidovich and an in-depth overview of Pitt’s roster which will have some very interesting new additions.  (Editor’s Note: Look for Dom’s feature to come Monday morning!) 

If all of that’s not enough, the start of the High School season is also upon us.  We will be at the JRK Memorial Classic, at Pine-Richland High School, which kicks off Friday night featuring 12 boys schools, including 10 WPIAL squads plus Kiski School and Wheeling.

Look for a few podcasts to return this week as we start to take a look at the college side on Sounding Off on Soccer and the scholastic beat, on the Kids on the Pitch pod, which will include interviews with opening weekend tournament participants.

Quote of the Week – Pitt’s Sarah Schupansky 

“I just thought the team came out as sharp as we wanted. We had an emphasis on coming out and getting an early goal and just putting our best foot forward right off the bat. A quick start against a solid team like Drexel. We watched the film, coaches prepared us well and we just went out and put all the effort in. It’s our first game in from of the home fans and just to be able to get a solid win in front of them was great.”

Pittsburgh Soccer Schedule (8/21/2023 – 8/27/2023) 

Date

Team

Time

H/A

Opponent

Location

Wed August 23	HOUNDS	7:00 PM	A	Hartford	Hartford
Thur August 24	RMU W	3:00 PM	A	Akron	Akron, OH
	Pitt M	7:00 PM	H	PENN STATE	Ambrose Urbanic Field
	Duq M	7:30 PM	A	James Madison	Harrisonburg, VA
	Duq W	7:00 PM	H	Youngstown St	Rooney Field
	RMU M	4:00 PM	H	VMI	North Athletic Complex
	Pitt W	7:00 PM	A	Kent State	Kent, OH
Friday August 25	WPIAL Non-Section (Boys & Girls)
	Pine Richland JRK Memorial Classic PSN Featured Match	8:00 PM	Stadium	Pine Richland boys vs Wheeling	Pine Richland Stadium
Saturday August 26	Pine Richland JRK Memorial Classic PSN Featured Match	7:15 PM	Stadium	Pine Richland boys vs North Catholic	Pine Richland Stadium
	WPIAL Non-Section (Boys & Girls)
	HOUNDS	9:00 PM	A	San Antonio	San Antonio
Sunday August 27	RMU W	4:00 PM	A	St. Francis (PA)	Loretto, PA
	Pitt W	1:00 PM	H	Bucknell	Ambrose Urbanic Field
	Duq W	1:00 PM	A	WVU	Morgantown, WV
	Duq M	12 Noon	A	Virginia Tech	Harrisonburg, VA
	RMU M	1:00 PM	H	NIagara	North Athletic Complex
	WPIAL Non-Section (Boys & Girls)
	Pine Richland JRK Memorial Classic PSN Featured Match	TBA		TBA	Pine Richland Stadium
Monday, August 28	Pitt M	7:00 PM	H	Howard	Ambrose Urbanic Field
	WPIAL Girls Section play begins
Tuesday, Aug 29	WPIAL Boys Section play begins