Pitt men’s soccer captain Jackson Gilman ready to build on 2024

Photo courtesy Pitt Athletics

From the offseason all the way through their 2024 campaign, Pitt Men’s Soccer emphasized their togetherness as a team. After a disappointing result in 2023 — at least for a team with four NCAA Tournament quarterfinal appearances and a pair of trips to the College Cup since 2020 — that they said stemmed a selfish playing style, the Panthers placed a premium on team offense.

Senior defender Jackson Gilman, now in his third season as a team captain, said the Panthers carried that same mentality into 2025.

“I think we’ve got a great team culture here, one that’s been passed on from before my time here, and we’ve just continued to grow with the group that we have,” Gilman said.

“Obviously, we’ve lost a lot of seniors from last year, guys that were key parts of our team, but we have a core group that was in the locker room in the group last fall, and then continued to build the team chemistry, team culture for the incoming freshmen and transfers… So I think we just tried to build upon what we had last year.”

Gilman said that the Panthers’ offensive blueprint remains similar to previous seasons, with a heavy emphasis on maintaining possession and lateral passing to open up opportunities to attack.

“I think we’ve always been a style, obviously, that likes the ball, but we don’t intentionally just pass the ball around just for the sake of passing it,” Gilman said. “I think in the sense that in order to move the defense, create the highest chances to score goals and be dangerous in the attacking half, yeah, we’re following that same kind of mentality, but we just go into games trying to give ourselves the best chance to score goals.

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Pitt’s coaching staff identified Gilman as a leader early on: there are only so many sophomore captains at any level of the sport. He described some of the lessons he learned during his first two seasons at the helm, as well as how he continues to adapt and apply them from year to year.

“Being captain from my sophomore season to now, I think just continue to try and grow or adapt to former captains that I’ve had or advice from leaders in my life and just kind of trying to implement my own things that I do well,” Gilman said. “Every team, every teammate is different, every situation is different so I think just trying to be a good teammate to those guys, to do all the little details, be very professional about myself and hoping that bleeds on to the [rest of] the team.”

That said, Gilman said his teammates make his life as a leader easy because of their similar approach to the game.

“I’ve been lucky to be part of this team, a group of guys that are very driven and competitive and like to do big things with their soccer careers,” Gilman said. “It’s easy to lead a group of guys that are very driven in their own mindsets. But just to be professional and do the little details, be a vocal leader on the field, I think, has been very helpful to me.”

Gilman named Casper Svendby, the reigning ACC Defensive Player of the Year and a First Team All-American in 2024, and Albert Thorsen, who scored four game winning goals — including the overtime winner in the Round of 16 — last season, his sophomore year, as returning Panthers likely to put on a standout performance once again.

“Everyone’s stepping up in their roles whether they were here last year or incoming freshmen,” Gilman said. “I think the group’s had a really strong summer, preseason, it’s exciting to see where some of the new guys end up as the season rolls on.”

Even with positive momentum from last season, however, Gilman knows the Panthers will need to prove themselves once again.

“Just trying to build upon what we’ve been doing the past few years. Obviously last year was a really good year, but that’s last year, it’s all said and done,” Gilman said. “So we can look at it for lessons to build upon for this season.

But we just try to focus on what’s ahead, the group that we have. It’s been a fun, exciting summer, training and being a part of that locker room.”