NCAA Women’s Soccer – BancFirst Cowgirl Soccer Classic
Pitt (1-0-0, 0-0-0 ACC) v Oklahoma State (1-0-0, 0-0-0 B12)
Sunday August 22 | Neal Patterson Stadium, Stillwater, OK | 12 p.m. EST
Live Statistics | Stream on ESPN +
Match day updates
Look for starting lineups and highlights from today’s match to post here.
PSN Coverage / Overview
The Panthers will face a tall order on Sunday, facing a 16th-ranked Oklahoma State team that opened their season with a 2-0 win over UTSA on Thursday and returned with 21 winning letters, including nine starters and five All-Big 12 winners. The Cowgirls lost in the round of 16 of the NCAA tournament in May, on penalties to seventh-seeded Texas.
Pitt wins the first game against Tulsa, 3-0; Amanda West becomes all-time leader of the program for goals scored
Pitt 2021-22 Women’s Season Preview
Pitt Play Notes
OKLAHOMA STATE SCOUTING
- The Cowgirls opened the season with a 2-0 win over UTSA on Thursday night.
- Oklahoma State is ranked No. 16 in the United Football Coaching Preseason Poll.
- The Cowgirls were 13-3-2 last year, placed third in the Big 12 at 6-2-1 and advanced to the Sweet 16, where they fell on penalties to Texas A&M, seventh seed.
- Chosen to again finish third in the preseason coaching poll, OSU returns 21 winners from last season’s letter, including nine starters and five All-Big 12 players.
- Senior defender / midfielder Kim Rodriguez has been named to TopDrawerSoccer.Com’s Best First Team XI.
INCREASING THE LIST OF VICTORIES OF ALL-TIME HEAD COACHES
- With 419 wins, Randy Waldrum sits eighth in all-time career wins for Division I head coaches.
- Waldrum is seventh among active coaches.
- He recorded his 416th career victory in 27 years at the Division I level against the Navy on Sunday October 11, 2020 which overtook David Lombardo (Keene State and James Madison, 35) and Chris Petrucelli (Notre Dame, Texas and SMU , 30) for eighth place all-time.
- He stays ahead of Petrucelli of SMU, who now has 416 wins.
- Waldrum currently sits sixth among active head coaches.
RETURN EACH STARTER
- Pitt returns all starters from last season.
- Forwards: Amanda West (16 starts), Leah Pais (14) and Landy Mertz (two spring games).
o Combined for 12 goals, nine assists, 100 shots and 52 shots on goal.
o West started every game of his career while Pais and Mertz were both new to the squad as transfers (Pais-Albany, Mertz-Dayton).
- Midfielder: Anna Bout (16), Chloe Minas (16) and Emily Yaple (16)
o All three started every game last year
o Bout has started all but three games in his career, and Yaple and Minas started as true freshmen last season after signing up in the previous spring semester.
o Yaple contributed offensively three goals and two assists while Bout had one goal and one assist each.
- Defenders: Hailey Davidson, Mackenzie Edwards (16), Kate McKay (16) and Athalie Palomo (16).
o All four started each game and were in the top five for minutes played on the team
o Teams limited to a penalty shootout percentage of 0.410
o McKay placed third on the team with three goals and five assists while Palomo had one goal and one assist.
- Goalies: Katherine Robinson (nine) and Caitlyn Lazzarini (seven)
o The two combined for six shutouts, a 0.743 save percentage, 1.12 goals-against average and six shutouts.
o Robinson was 7-2-0 with 21 saves, 0.724 save percentage and 0.95 goals-against average.
o Lazzarini was 4-3-0 with 31 saves, 0.756 save percentage and 1.30 goals-against average with all but three games started against ACC opponents.
LAST YEAR’S STORY
- Despite playing fewer games than usual due to COVID, Pitt has done a lot that previous teams in the program haven’t.
- With a 9-5-0 overall record in the fall and wins in both spring games, she overtook the 1995 team (10-7-1) for most wins in a single season. and was only the third to post a winning record (8-5-5 in 2009).
- Five of the wins were on the road, the most in a single season in the program’s history.
o In 2019 on the road, Pitt was 1-7-1 and a combined 2-28-4 over the past four seasons.
- Pitt notched his first United Football Coaching Poll ranking in program history, debuting 12th in the season opener and then 14th.
- By defeating The Citadel 2-1 (OT) and 1-0, Pitt won for the first time as a ranked team.
o Head Coach Randy Waldrum has now led five schools nationally: Tulsa, Baylor and Notre Dame men’s and women’s soccer in addition to Pitt.
- Pitt started the season 6-0 for the first time in program history, which was the second longest winning streak in school history, as the 2015 squad notched eight wins. consecutive.
o West has scored three consecutive goals, which no other Panther in the history of the program has done before.
THE ARRIVAL IN THE CITY OF A NEW ARRIVAL
- Landy Mertz, a native of his hometown, has scored in every game as a Panther.
- A transfer from Dayton joining Pitt for the spring season, Mertz made a huge impact on his Panthers debut with two goals in the team’s 3-0 shutout victory in the City Game.
- Mertz was named the ACC Offensive Player of the Week.
- She went on to score a goal in the 4-1 win over Kentucky in the season finale.
- In both exhibition games this season, she scored one goal in the 2-0 win at Youngstown State and collected assists on both goals in a 2-0 win at RV Ohio State.
NEW ARRIVALS
- Pitt welcomes 15 newcomers to the team.
- 12 freshmen: Lacey Bernick, Ellie Coffield, Sara Darlington, Mackenzie Evers, Bri Hilsenteger, Elena Hinkson, Katelyn Kauffman, Maddie Keister, Ashley Moon, Hailey Schmidt, Sarah Schupansky and Madison Vukas.
o All except Darlington, Evers and Schmidt signed up in early spring 2021.
o Evers graduated a year earlier from West Allegheny High School.
- Three transfers: Ashton Gordon, Emily Harrigan and Kelly Moss.
o Gordon started two seasons at the SEC Champs Arkansas and joined the team last spring.
o Harrigan spent three seasons at Rutgers, and Moss is coming from Notre Dame after two years.
Related
