Pitt Men’s Soccer Stomps Syracuse Behind Vilamitjana Hat Trick, Offensive Onslaught

Pitt Men’s Soccer blew past Syracuse 4-2 at Ambrose Urbanic Field on Saturday, Oct. 18, riding a hat trick from graduate midfielder Arnau Vilamijana to snap a four game winless streak. The Panthers now sit at 5-6-3 (1-4-1 ACC) with two games to go in the regular season.

Although they’ve struggled mightily this season, Pitt showed just how dangerous of a team that can be when they’re clicking, putting on an offensive clinic. The Panthers poured it on from the opening kickoff, putting ten shots on goal and taking 21 shots in total; Syracuse managed just five and 11, giving them little chance of keeping pace.

Vilamitjana left no doubt that he was on fire early on, approaching slowly on a penalty kick — to all the world looking like he’d hook it left with his right foot — before angling it the other way, fooling Orange goalkeeper Tomas Hut with the misdirection in the eighth minute.

Syracuse took the next shot (and scored the next goal). Ernest Mensah Jr. launched a rocket of a corner kick that trickled around up front — Kristjan Fortier picking up an assist somewhere in the scrum — before Chimere Omeze managed to push it past Pitt goalkeeper Jack Moxom at 15’. The Orange controlled the pace of play for much of the next 20 minutes, taking a trio of corner kicks and putting a shot on net that Moxom blocked away, but Pitt managed to break the 1-1 deadlock.

On his own side of midfield, Niklas Sørensen lifted a long pass to Albert Thorsen at 33’. The Norwegian junior struggled to control the ball, barreling toward Hut while trying to knock the skipping pass out of the air, but managed to gain possession, slip past a crashing defender and feed it into the back of the net. The Panthers maintained heavy pressure, Thorsen and Sørensen contributing to a sustained volley minutes later, but Hut kept the deficit at 2-1 heading into the half.

Vilamitjana wasted little time adding to the lead out of the break, receiving a pass from Grayson Carter on the left flank and flipping it neatly over Hut’s head as the goalkeeper tried to cut off his angle. Syracuse scored less than three minutes later to prevent the game from turning into an onslaught, Landon Darko outmuscling two Panthers’ defenders before dishing to Michael Acquah to make it 3-2.

With the next goal set to either put the game out of reach or tie it, both Hut and Moxom remained poised through the onslaught that followed: the Panthers made 16 shot attempts in the second half, while Syracuse took six. Ultimately, Pitt broke through.

Already nursing his second brace of the season, Vilamitjana made it a hat trick. Sørensen lifted a free kick toward the net, and junior Logan Oliver got a piece of it before Vilamijana rammed it home. 

The Panthers maintained offensive pressure through the final whistle, taking eight more shots and giving the Orange no chance to catch their breath, much less mount a comeback.

Up next Pitt Men’s Soccer will host Wake Forest for their regular season home finale, set for 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 24.