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The City belongs to Pitt: No. 7 Panthers take down Dukes, 2-1, in City Game

The Pitt women's soccer team celebrates Lucia Wells' goal against Duquesne University. Photo: Rachael Kriger / PGH Soccer Now.

The University of Pittsburgh women’s soccer team took down the Duquesne Dukes on Sunday at Highmark Stadium, in the first-ever women’s soccer City Game to take place at the Pittsburgh Riverhounds’ professional stadium, but it was Dukes head coach Al Alvine that had the best quote of the day.

“It’s great. I think we should do this every year, to be honest with you,” he said, looking around Highmark Stadium. “Great venue, great environment and great weather — which I didn’t think would be the case!”

The weather in predictable is always certainly unpredictable, but the crowd size on Sunday was certainly not. There were 1,250 fans in attendance.

On the pitch, there were 21 players from the WPIAL, who played high school soccer around the stadium. A couple players, including Panthers freshman Lola Abraham, and Dukes sophomores Kayla Leseck and Hailey Longwell, even featured on the pitch at Highmark during WPIAL Championship contests.

Duquesne edged out the Panthers in the ‘WPIAL Kid’ count, with 13 players to the Panthers’ nine, respectively.

“They were super excited about it,” Ben Waldrum, associate head coach for the Panthers, said. “I think it’s something special to be on the field that you’re on, growing up on the high school side of it in Pittsburgh. I know they were excited to kick off the game.” 

Even Chloe Minas, who hails from Canada, said the ‘City Game’ always provides meaning each year.

“I love the City Game. I think this is my fourth year playing the City Game, or third year. So, it’s always fun,” she said. “It was nice to see a really good crowd at Highmark. Even though I’m not a WPIAL kid, I appreciate these games. I’m honestly very grateful. The city view and everything, and they’re a great opponent.”

Waldrum agreed about the view and the facilities, but had just one small gripe with the field size.

“I love the atmosphere, it’s a great view,” he shared. “I wish the field was a little wider, but I think it’s a positive for the city in general, for the youth soccer community, Duquesne, Pitt and it certainly makes sense. We’d love to do it anytime.”

Sarah Schupansky, who attended North Allegheny High School, along with teammate Lucia Wells, said the Riverhounds organization and Highmark Stadium crew went all out for both schools.

“The way that they just created such a great environment for everybody, for both teams, meant a lot,” the forward said. “Getting to play in front of the city is always an honor. We love playing Duquesne; they’re a great team, every single time we play them. They always put their best foot forward.

“It was a tight one today, but those are the fun ones.”

Dukes stall Panthers in first half

Alvine called the match “really competitive.” Both schools are D1, but Pitt is certainly the powerhouse of the two, making recent trips to the NCAA Tournament and even finishing in the Elite 8 last year.

However, the Dukes puzzled the Panthers’ offense the entire first half. Pitt recorded a total of nine shots, with three registering on-target against Duquesne goalkeeper Maddy Neundorfer.

“I thought it was a great performance from our kids. We worked really hard,” Alvine said. “Obviously, they’re a great team, but I think we went toe-to-toe with them. Maybe if a couple rolls of the ball go our way, maybe we walk away with a tie, but give all the credit to our kids.”

In the locker room at halftime, Alvine said he essentially told his group to keep doing what they were doing.

“More of the same really, to be honest with you,” he said. “We wanted to get the ball forward a little more, and be a bit braver to get to the attacking third. I was happy with our defensive effort today. We were solid, organizationally. Can’t ask any more of the kids, in terms of their effort and passion to play.”

Schupansky credited the Duquesne defense for stalling the Panthers, saying the Dukes always have a solid game plan when facing Pitt.

“They’re a great team. They always have a great game plan when they play us,” the senior shared. “We knew we had to go out and instill our way, and not get too frustrated or flustered with the lack of goals. It was just creating the chances, but also capitalizing on them. Ben said we can do an even better job of that going forward. He reminded us that when we get into ACC play, there are going to be less and less chances that come. So, we’ll work hard to make sure we take every chance we get.”

Waldrum said the lack of scoring in the final third goes back to his messaging from the Georgia match: efficiency.

“Overall, again, much like Georgia, we possessed and had a lot of good movements, and just the efficiency part,” he said. “I’m not super pleased with that, to be honest with you.”

Floodgates open with North Allegheny teammates

The tandem from North Allegheny got on the board for the Panthers in the second half. A quick start on offense gave the Panthers a boost they needed, and in the 64th minute, Schupansky fired a shot up and over Neundorfer — from distance.

“I don’t know if you saw me, but I was celebrating before it went in. It was beautiful,” Minas recalled. “Sarah deserved it; she was trying all game, and finally she scored. After she got it, the floodgates opened. I’m glad she got her goal today.” 

Schupansky deflected any praise in favor of crediting her teammates.

“It feels great, obviously, but all credit to my teammates. Sage was the one who worked really hard to get the ball out wide to me,” she said. “Ben always says to whip the crosses in and if you have the time and space, go for goal. That’s what happened, and it went in, which was really great. I was more excited to put the team ahead than actually get the goal.”

In the 85th minute, sophomore Wells added an insurance goal. She was assisted by Minas for her first Panthers goal.

However, with just two minutes left, the Panthers fell victim to a lapse of judgment, and Margey Brown, the junior from Ohio, scored on an unassisted dribble-and-shoot in the box.

“She’s on fire right now,” Alvine said. “She had three on Thursday [in Duquesne’s 6-2 win over Mercyhurst], one today. She’s been a bright spot for us so far this year. It’s early, but four goals in two games? We’ll take that any week.” 

Waldrum said the lapse was a big wake up call for the defense.

“One thing I told the group, especially at the end, is that how we manage the game is not where it needs to be,” he explained. “When we get into ACC play, and if we don’t have the willingness to track runners and get into the box when the other team is throwing numbers forward, we’ll be in trouble. We got away with it today, but that’s not going to happen in the bigger games. We’ve got some work to do, especially this week. We need to get to the drawing board and get more efficient and better with the details.”

“I think, defensively, just late in the game, we switched off for a moment with a couple minutes to go,” he added. “That’s something we need to clean up. For our standard and where we want to be, that’s not good enough for us.”

Panthers looking forward to Buffalo

Pitt has a quick turnaround in the week, hosting Buffalo in a non-conference tilt at Ambrose Urbanic Field. The match is part of a double-header night with the the men’s soccer team, who will take on Georgetown after the women play.

For Schupansky, the biggest correction to fix against Buffalo is finding more dangerous chances and converting.

“We need to capitalize on our chances. Buffalo is also a great team defensively, so we’re going to have to do our best there,” she said. “Ben always says each game is about us. Obviously, we’re going to scout Buffalo, see how they’re doing. We played them last year, and it was a tight game as well. But as long as we play our way, the Pitt way, we can instill that on the field and, hopefully, we can get a result.” 

Minas added that the Panthers need to take a step back and get back to basics.

“I think we need to focus a bit more on chemistry, in terms of having the ideas in our heads but actually getting that flowing together,” she shared.

The Panthers will kick off against Buffalo at 5 p.m. on Thursday night.

Pitt vs. Duquesne | August '24

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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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