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New faces, new hopes, new goals for Pitt Women’s Soccer in 2024

“Different, but good.”

That’s how Ben Waldrum, associate head coach of the University of Pittsburgh women’s soccer team, described the mantra of this year’s 2024 team.

“Different,” almost seems like a complex word to use. A large majority of the team’s starters from the 2023 season — another season of major accomplishment with a trip to the ACC Championship semifinals and a first-ever spot in the NCAA Elite 8 — are back. Players like Chloe Minas, Ellie Coffield, Samiah Phiri and Sarah Schupansky are in their final year as a Panther.

However, there are some major differences, notably the absence of four graduating seniors. Well, maybe just three.

Amanda West became the first-ever Panther to be selected in the NWSL College Draft, going to the Houston Dash. Landy Mertz wasn’t far after, hearing her name called in the fourth round of the Draft, and punching her ticket to the North Carolina Courage. Recently, Anna Bout, the Panthers’ longtime ‘super sub’ signed with Odense Buldklub in Denmark.

The Panthers went 3/4 with their graduating seniors joining professional leagues. The fourth player decided to stay home, as Ashton Gordon became an assistant coach for the Panthers.

So, yes, the team is different this year, but still good. West, a longtime staple and Panther’s leading goal-scorer in history, is gone. Mertz, who casually held down the midfield and was an assist-machine, is on the coast. Bout, who supplemented the goal-scoring with four tallies last year, is off to Europe. Gordon, who was always known as the ‘on-the-field coach,’ is now assisting on the sideline.

Longtime staples of the program are gone. But, the Panthers are nowhere near starting with a new slate. As mentioned, starters like Minas, Coffield and Schupansky are back. Phiri, who had a whopping 11 goals last year, will likely see herself in more of a consistent starting role. On the backline, Katie Zailski, an All-Conference player, will step up and lead in Gordon’s absence, while Ellie Breech is going into her second-straight starting season.

“Different, but good,” is how the Panthers will look this year, as they strive to achieve even more success than the 2023 season.

Veteran Presence

The Panthers still, according to Waldrum, maintain a strong veteran presence.

The team has one fifth-year senior in Minas, the Canadian from Montreal. In their final season are Phiri, Schupansky, Coffield, Ashley Moon, Keera Melenhorst and Mackenzie Evers. There are eight juniors on the roster, including returners Zailski and Breech, along with transfer Magali Gagne, a midfielder who spent the last three years at the University of Kansas.

Waldrum said that with massive freshman and sophomore classes, the veteran presence will prove to be an immense bonus.

“I would say the group is still very veteran. We do have some really good qualities and leaders to carry the momentum going forward,” he shared. “We don’t just want to be seen as a successful program, but we want to be this program of excellence and always be in the conversation, year in and year out.”

Coffield said that leadership and helping younger players is the upperclassmen’s “bread and butter.”

“This is like our bread and butter. There are a ton of us, as you can see,” she said. “But that presents us more of an opportunity to do great things off the field and on the field.”

Minas added that younger players are engaged and transfers are asking veteran returners about the system and model of the Panthers.

“I feel like, at practice, everyone, even the younger ones, are very engaged. That’s all we can ask for,” Minas said. “They’ve been asking a lot of questions, and it’s fun to mentor them. We’ve been here for a while. I don’t think we’re worried about putting new players in starting roles. I don’t think we’re going to skip a beat, to be honest.”

Waldrum agrees, also alluding that the Panthers’ new crop of players bring something different the team hasn’t had in previous years: height.

“We don’t have any fears of putting some younger players here. The proof is going to be more in the games than in training,” Waldrum explained. “Our young players, our sophomores and freshmen, are talented. We don’t have any fear of throwing them into big games. We’re going to have to with non-conference games. We need their height-element. With the way we like to play, we naturally attract smaller and technical players. It’s more of a way we view the game, and that may be why you see the congestion in midfield.

“Certainly getting a little more height isn’t a bad thing.”

Stacked midfield and forward lines

Last season, the Panthers were tinkering with their midfield, trying to figure out what model worked best. At one point, the coaching staff — consisting of head coach Randy Waldrum, associate head coach Ben Waldrum and goalkeeper coach Jesse Goleman — were rotating Coffield and Minas in and out of the lineup.

“We looked at each other and said, ‘What are we doing?'” Ben Waldrum recalled.

The Panthers decided to shift into a three-back defense and slip Coffield in, on the field at the same time as Minas, to a defensive midfield role. It worked well for the Panthers. As Waldrum said, it got their best XI on the field.

“Playing time is going to be a premium in that midfield,” Waldrum admitted. “The best part of having that midfield is that you can rotate players, and you can stay healthy throughout the season. The college season has a condensed schedule. You can play one way on Thursday and another way on Sunday. Those are things you’re going to have to look at and evaluate. Same thing up front. You’re going to have some logjams up there, too. That’s our challenge.” 

In the midfield, the challenge is to replace Mertz. Coffield, Schupansky and Minas offered up sophomore Lucia Wells, who played in high school with Schupansky at North Allegheny in the WPIAL. Last year, she featured in 17 games for a total of 231 minutes and tallied an assist, along with six shots.

Waldrum agreed with his upperclassmen.

“Lucia Wells can do it. She brings the same type of speed and pace,” he shared. “She’s got a little bit of bite to her, as well. I love Landy, I love her work rate. I think Lucia has a little bit more willingness to scrap at times. Landy was a little bit more analytical, tactical and her shape was always good. That’s how she solved a lot of problems. Lucia is going to be different in that regard.”

Up front, there’s no easy way to say it: Amanda West is tough to replace. She is the Panthers’ all-time leading goal scorer with 50 goals, all-time assist leader with 31 — although Schupansky is sneaking up with 28 assists — and all-time points leader with 131.

Schupansky said that Phiri will likely take over the No. 9 role, as Schupansky will be pushed out wide.

“Samiah’s presence up there is something else. She’s so dominant when the ball is in the air, and she’s a great player that can post up and also spin off,” the North Allegheny graduate said. “She’s very versatile in those aspects. She’s always looking for the goal, which is what you want in your No. 9. She’s dominant in the air, and has scored a couple of headers for us over the years. She’s going to be a great player like she always is, every year.” 

Waldrum said he’s looking forward to seeing how new faces like Lola Abraham from Riverview High School and sophomore Aliya Gomes, compete for playing time up front.

“Lola Abraham has some special qualities, and she can play in a couple different spots. Aliya Gomes has got some Canadian youth international experience and she can fly,” Waldrum shared. “She is one that can be in the mix for that spot. We’ll have some things we need to sort out before we get the season started, that’s for sure.”

On the defensive side, Waldrum is excited to see what year two has in store for defender Olivia Lee, who quietly slid into a starting role last year next to Zailski and Gordon.

“Olivia Lee was great last year, and with a year under her belt, you’ll see a jump in confidence from her,” he said. “She got a little bite to her game, as well, which was needed. We’re a technical team that likes to possess, sometimes you need that element to you. She can bring that side of it. She will certainly step up.”

Zailski will find herself as the defacto leader of the backline, as a returner and veteran. The Panthers also brought in a transfer from Missouri, Grace Pettet, to help with the back.

“Katie has been an All-Conference player, so we’ll be solid back there,” Waldrum said. “Grace, the transfer from Missouri, will play a role back there. I wouldn’t sleep on Sage Seltzer. She’s one that can play in a back-three, back-four. I think, at times, depending on how we attack, you have the option of putting Ellie back there. We’re looking at that as another option to get our best XI on the field.” 

Minas added that, right now, Zailski isn’t just improving on-the-field, but off as well, learning about the game deeper with the coaching staff.

“Katie has been active in trying to understand the game model a little bit more,” Minas shared. “She’s been hanging with the coaches upstairs and going through film a lot with them. Katie is trying to be a sponge and soak in that information. Ashton is definitely her mentor right now.” 

Looking for an even bigger 2024

As with every team, the Panthers are looking to improve from where they left off last year. The previous season was strong, with a first-ever Elite 8 appearance, a big win over North Carolina in the ACC Playoffs and plenty of team and individual accolades.

However, Waldrum and his team know they have nowhere to go but up. There are still improvements to be made, and Pitt wants to make it further in tournament play.

One area that Waldrum expects to see plenty of performance is the threat in front of goal. He expects many goals from multiple sources.

“I think this team has a chance to be even more technical. A lot of players that love the ball that can play in traffic are part of our group,” Waldrum shared. “I look at us, and, really, last year, our goals came from a lot of places. Our attacking approach may need some tweaks, but I think, overall, we will still be able to do the things we want to do well.”

Last year, Schupansky did the unthinkable — she led Amanda West in the goal-scoring tally. Both had 11 goals, but Schupansky had 14 assists to West’s nine, putting her slightly over the edge. Phiri also had 11 goals.

But, as Schupansky noted, they aren’t the only goal-scorers. Coffield was known for scoring multiple “bangers” last year, especially from distance. Minas has not yet scored at home, but recently scored in a preseason tilt against West Virginia.

Nigerian international Deb Abiodun scored six times last year, and is even more experienced than last year. She recently competed in the Olympics with Nigeria. As Waldrum stated, she’ll get her well-earned rest after a busy Olympic schedule and then be slotted in when comfortable.

Keera Melenhorst surprised last year with three tallies and six assists. Goals can come from anywhere for the Panthers.

“None of the goals would happen without the build up, and everyone behind us, up front, getting us the ball and working to make it through,” Schupansky explained. “The coaches have a great game plan. The goals aren’t individual efforts; they’re always team efforts. We always celebrate as a team. I’m not going to take credit for any of my goals as an individual achievement, because I wouldn’t score one without my teammates. I don’t even think Amanda thought of herself as the ‘goal scorer,’ either. Our team is a very creative team, and we have a lot of people who can score goals. That’s what’s very dangerous about us. We never go into a game saying, ‘We have to get this person the ball because we need a goal, we need to score.’”

For now, the task at hand is an opener down south against Georgia in out-of-conference play, and then a ‘City Game’ on Sunday afternoon — with free admission for the public — at Highmark Stadium against Duquesne University.

The Panthers don’t begin ACC play until September 14, when they host Louisville at Ambrose Urbanic Field.

“We’re going to work our hardest, put our best foot forward. We’re going to take it game-by-game,” Schupansky said. “Randy always says to take the season by chunks. Now we’re in preseason, but he says our preseason starts in April when we’re practicing in the spring. We’re in preseason, then we have out-of-conference play, then conference play and then postseason play.

“We’re not going to worry about one until we accomplish what we want to in the other one.” 

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The sport of soccer is Rachael Kriger's area of expertise. Kriger covers high school and women's soccer, with occasional work with Pitt Women's Soccer. For the last five years, she has been the Color Commentator for the Pitt Women's Soccer program. Elsewhere, Kriger contributes for MLS Multiplex, part of the FanSided network. She formerly wrote for Equalizer Soccer and Last Word on Soccer. Kriger is a member of the official NWSL Media Association and the North American Soccer Reporters, serving as the NASR's President after two years in the role of Communications Director and Vice President.

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