Pulse of Pittsburgh Soccer: Let the Fall futbol frenzy begin

The Fall is here, that means the Pittsburgh soccer schedule will be heating up as the Riverhounds return to action, with the first of their final five matches, while all of the college teams are now fully into conference play and high school soccer season has already turned the corner, with the second half of section play beginning this week for most WPIAL schools.

Here’s a snapshot look at the week ahead:

Frequent Flyer Miles Award…   goes to the Pitt women’s soccer team (7-2-1 overall, 1-1-0 in ACC), as the Panthers will travel to California for a long weekend road trip for what has to be an unprecedented second time in a month.  The Panthers will face the two ACC newcomers on the West Coast, first Cal (on Thursday – 7 p.m. ET), then they’ll go to Palo Alto to take on Stanford, who were ranked No. 1 in the United Soccer Coaches poll last week, but will likely get knocked down a spot or a few — after losing to No. 13 Wake Forest last week.

Pitt’s Head Coach Randy Waldrum spoke about this in more detail the last time he was on Sounding Off on Soccer Podcast:

Sounding Off on Soccer Podcast: Pitt women’s soccer HC Randy Waldrum on early season challenges

Speaking of Stanford, could Pitt Men’s Soccer ascend to No. 1 ranking?   In last week’s United Soccer Coaches poll, Stanford was ranked first, with Pitt coming in at number two.  Last week, the Panthers cruised to two wins (over Cleveland State and Boston College) while the Cardinal played Duke to a draw (at home) and beat UC Davis

Riverhounds have zero room for error…     As the Hounds begin their final stretch of five matches in five weeks, they will likely be in a battle to the end of the regular season with three other teams for the last playoff spot, as Loudoun United FC, Hartford Athletic and North Carolina sit ahead of them by one or two points each, with Loudoun over the playoff line at the moment with 37 points (Hartford also at 37, North Carolina with 36 and the Hounds have 35 points).    After weekend results, I posted the following article that sets up the schedule and outlines the playoff race in detail.

USL Championship Playoff Race: Riverhounds will have some catching up to do

Pittsburgh Soccer Schedule (9/24/2024 – 10/2/2024)

Date	Time	H/A	Pgh Socc Team	Opponent	Location
Sep 24 (Tuesday)	3:00 PM	Away	RMU M	St. Bonaventure	St. Bonaventure, N.Y.
	7:00 PM	Home	DUQ M	Mount St. Mary’s	Pittsburgh, Pa. / Rooney Field
Sep 26 (Thursday)	4:00 PM	Home	RMU W	Purdue Fort Wayne	Moon Township, Pa. (North Athletic Complex)
	7:00 PM	Home	DUQ W	Rhode Island	Pittsburgh, Pa.   (Rooney Field)
	7:00 PM	Away	PITT W	Cal	Berkeley, CA
Sep 27 (Friday)	7:00 PM	Away	Pitt M	Virginia Tech	Blacksburg, VA
Sep 28 (Saturday)	12:00 PM	Home	RMU M	Milwaukee	Moon Township, Pa. (North Athletic Complex)
	5:00 PM	Home	DUQ M	Saint Joseph’s	Pittsburgh, Pa. / Rooney Field
	7:00 PM	Home	RIVERHOUNDS SC	Birmingham	Pittsburgh, PA / Highmark Stadium
Sep 29 (Sunday)	1:00 PM	Home	RMU W	IU Indiana	Moon Township, Pa. (North Athletic Complex)
	1:00 PM	Home	DUQ W	Dayton	Pittsburgh, Pa.  (Rooney Field)
	4:00 PM	Away	PITT W	Stanford	Stanford, CA
Oct 1 (Tuesday)	3:00 PM	Home	RMU M	Canisius	Moon Township, Pa. (North Athletic Complex)
Oct 2 (Wednesday)	7:00 PM	Home	PITT M	Howard	Pittsburgh, PA  Ambrose Urbanic Field