There is no real need to worry about Pitt men’s soccer.
After receiving no votes in the preseason poll by United Soccer Coaches, Pitt men’s soccer received a large jump in the rankings, landing at No. 3 in the poll. During their reign as third-best, the Panthers traveled across Pennsylvania, beating Penn State and losing to an unranked (and a rightfully unranked) Penn.
However, it is not time to overreact. This team seeks to continue the trend of making the NCAA Division 1 Men’s Soccer Tournament for the sixth straight season. After an upset by James Madison in the first round in 2023, the team rehauled their roster and will likely be much better this year.
A loss to Penn isn’t worrisome. The team was coming off just one day of rest, using roughly the same starting lineup as two days prior. After the matchup, Penn is now ranked, and Pitt has maintained their position as a top ten team.
An at-large tournament berth for the team seems quite likely at this point, and another first-round exit seems quite unlikely. Every great team has roadblocks — take UConn men’s basketball losing to future non-tournament team Seton Hall en route to their second consecutive national championship. It just so happens that Pitt hit their roadblock at Penn. It is possible that the Panthers might be caught on an off day in the future when it matters most, but the team has improved in almost all facets and should prove a force in the ACC and beyond.
The team added 13 newcomers for the 2024 season. Sophomore midfielder Logan Oliver from Indiana, senior midfielder Casper Grening from Kentucky and junior defender Casper Svendby from Dayton mark the top of the transfer class for head coach Jay Vidovich.
With Svendby and Grening playing a combined 34 games last season for their respective programs, they’re already making an impact on Pitt’s starting roster this year. Both have played in all four games for the Panthers up to this point, with Svendby scoring a goal against Penn State in a game where he played all 90 minutes.
In addition to the transfers, the Panthers already found an impact first-year player in forward Lasse Dahl of Denmark, who has two assists in four appearances and one start.
Sophomore forward Albert Thorsen makes his return to the Panthers and made his own impact already, netting two goals and an assist in four starts.
The Panthers decided to name two captains for the season, with junior defender Jackson Gilman and senior midfielder Guilherme Feitosa both wearing the yellow armband. Feitosa has gotten out to a hot start, scoring two goals including a penalty shot in four starts to open the year. Gilman has one assist so far, in addition to being a suffocating defender.
Most importantly, the main issue for Pitt in 2023 was goaltending. Not only does it look like now-sophomore Cabral Carter significantly improved, allowing one goal in two starts to this point, Vidovich moved the team to a two goalie rotation. Sophomore Jack Moxom has also only allowed one goal on 11 shots on goal in his two appearances.
It seems quite unlikely that this season will follow the route of the season before. The greatest players from last season are already showing improvement and the initial lineup and depth were bolstered heavily by transfers and first-years.
Pitt Men’s Soccer will take on SMU on Saturday Sept. 7 at 8 p.m. on ACCNX.
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