Pulse of Pittsburgh Soccer: Pitt men’s soccer has already faced a rigorous schedule, now comes No. 1 NC State

The next 10 days will be pivotal for many of the high-level soccer teams in the area.

In this week’s Pulse of Pittsburgh Soccer, you’ll see an expanded schedule, through Sunday, October 5, for all of Pittsburgh’s Division I soccer programs and the Riverhounds.

Here are some of the things we’ll be following in the coming days.

Riverhounds Host Las Vegas

Look for a new edition of Riverhounds Notebook to drop soon, as it’s that time — to take a deep dive into the Hounds final five matches and see how things are shaping up in the playoff race.  If the Hounds want to host a home playoff match, they’ll have to keep bagging wins.

Additionally, we are following the USL Championship’s investigation into the incident that happened at the end of Saturday’s match between Danny Griffin and Hartford’s Marlon Hairston, which ended in a 2-1 win for Pittsburgh, but Hartford abandoned the match in stoppage time.

If you haven’t seen, I did pen a column on this earlier in the week, as league’s Foul and Abusive Language Panel is on the clock to come up with a resolution into this matter.

Column: USL Championship is now on the clock to address Riverhounds-Hartford end-of-match alleged racial slur incident

Pitt Men’s Soccer Have Faced a Challenging Schedule; Now Comes No. 1 NC. State

A Pitt Panthers men’s soccer squad desperate the pick-up a result in conference play continues its gauntlet of a schedule when they host United Soccer Coaches Poll’s top-ranked North Carolina State Wolfpack on Friday night at Ambrose Urbanic Field.

The Panthers are off to an uncharacteristic 0-2-0 start in ACC, having lost matches to the two schools that have been their biggest thorns in recent years. First, they were handed a road loss against Clemson, 3-2, in an open-ended affair, then came home and fell short in a tight match with nemesis Notre Dame, who shut the Panthers attack down in 2-0 win.

While it’s no excuse, the Panthers have been hobbled with injuries, namely graduate student, Casper Svenby, who was named to the Hermann Award Preseason Watch List.  Svendby didn’t start the first two matches but did play 45 minutes against Michigan State and saw time in the next five matches, but has since been out of the last three, all non-conference matches vs Incarnate Word, Maryland and Mercyhurst.

NC State will be a tough challenge for Pitt, as they have been impossible to score against.

That’s right, through its first eight matches, the Wolfpack have yet to surrender a goal.  The player to watch for NC State will be Donovan Phillip, a former student at Kiski Prep, who continues to take the nation by storm.  The Saint Lucia native increased nation’s leading goal scoring total to 12, after a brace vs Boston College last week.

Look for more on the Pitt men’s soccer team on this week’s upcoming Sounding Off on Soccer Podcast, as we’ll be chatting with Pitt broadcast analyst and former LaRoche University Head Coach David Day.

Pitt Women Have Chance to Move to .500 in ACC

Next up for Pitt women, who’ve been able to recharge their batteries with a week between matches, is their first-ever encounter vs SMU.

Head Coach Ben Waldrum’s squad is relying on a lot of new faces, which means they’ve been a bit of a work in progress, but there are a lot of positive signs.

Freshman Katie Ellermeyer leads the team with six goals this season. She netted the game-winner against Boston College and currently ranks second nationally in goals scored by a freshman.  Senior Margaret Wilde is enjoying a breakout season, earning five starts in 11 appearances. She ranks second on the team with three goals, including one goal and one assist in the win over Boston College.

Junior Sage Stelzer notched her third assist of the season in the Boston win, delivering the key pass that set up Ellermeyer’s decisive goal.  Pitt’s defense has been a steady presence, anchored by Olivia Lee and Stelzer on the back line. Lee leads the team in minutes played with 990. The unit held Boston College to just four second-half shots to help secure the victory.

Thursday Women’s Triple-Header includes Duquesne and Robert Morris matinee’s

Duquesne looks to keep its strong form as they head to our Nation’s capital to take on George Washington, while Robert Morris women are looking for its first Horizon League win when they host Detroit Mercy in a match that has been moved up to 2 p.m. — and will now be played at Montour Run.

RMU (2-5-2, 0-1-1 #HLWSOC) is coming off a 2-2 draw with Green Bay on Sunday afternoon. The Colonials jumped out to a two-goal lead inside the opening 22 minutes, with Paloma Swankler scoring the opener off a feed from Jillian Marvin before Ava Trethewey converted her second penalty kick of the season. Goalkeeper Emma Cameron recorded one save in the result.

The Dukes (6-2-1, 1-0-0 in A10) opened their Atlantic 10 slate with a 3-0 victory over Richmond (9/21) at Rooney Field, improving to 13-15-3 (.458) all-time in conference openers. Senior forward Maya Matesa opened the scoring in the win over the Spiders, finding the back of the net at 10:18 to register the eventual game-winning goal.

Duquesne will face a GW squad that has an overall record of 3-3-3 (.500) this season after dropping its Atlantic 10 opener at George Mason (9/20), 2-1.

Zac Weiss has been doing a great job in covering both Duquesne teams and caught up with Head Coach Jessica Giugucz, Kaitlyn Killinger and the team’s and one of the nation’s top goal scorers, Maya Matesa.

Maya Matesa established a new Duquesne single-season record with her goal against Richmond, as it gives her 11 during the 2025 season. Matesa enters Thursday’s game at George Washington leading NCAA Division I in goals (11), points (23) and per game averages in both categories at 1.22 and 2.56, respectively.

She is also tied for third in the country in shots per game (5.00) with Payton Nutzman of Mercer.

PITTSBURGH SOCCER SCHEDULE (9/25 – 10/5)