Men’s Soccer: Hoos rally to knock off No. 11 Pitt, 2-1

Courtesy UVA Media Relations

Powered by an impressive three-point performance from Mouhameth Thiam, the Virginia men’s soccer team came from behind to topple No. 11 Pitt by a score of 2-1, clinching its first comeback win of the season on Friday night at Klöckner Stadium.

GOALS (ASSISTS)
9’ Pitt — Thorsen
18’ Virginia — Thiam (Wiese, Pelà)
28’ Virginia — Annor (Thiam, Miller)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Pitt struck early in the match when a loose ball in the area fell to the feet of Albert Thorsen whose tap-in goal put Virginia behind in a match for the third consecutive outing.

Virginia (7-3-3, 3-2-1 ACC) responded swiftly. Less than 10 minutes after the Panthers tallied the opening goal, the Cavaliers were back on level terms in the 18th minute when Umberto Pelà picked out the run of Paul Wiese down the right side. Wiese slid his pass into Mo Thiam in front of goal who finished his chance to level the score at 1-1.

The Cavaliers poured on the pressure. Just minutes later it was Thiam playing Stephen Annor in behind on the counter. Annor fired his shot towards the far post but was inches wide of giving Virginia the lead.

In the 28th minute the Cavaliers broke through again. Reese Miller swung a perfect ball in to Thiam down the left side of the field. Thiam squared his pass to Annor who tapped this chance into the net to give Virginia a 2-1 advantage going into the half.

The Virginia press was relentless in the second half, but goals were harder to come by and the Cavaliers had to be strong in defense. Joey Batrouni made a pair of critical stops just after the hour mark to keep Virginia ahead. While Brendan Lambe’s diving block in the penalty area proved crucial as well as Virginia held on to secure the victory over the Panthers (5-4-3, 2-2-2).

Annor flips the game on its head 🔃

He has is eighth of the season and the Hoos lead at Klöckner.

UVA 2, Pitt 1#GoHoos⚔️ pic.twitter.com/tDj14T9U94

— Virginia Men’s Soccer (@UVAMenSoccer) October 13, 2023

FROM HEAD COACH GEORGE GELNOVATCH

“That game kicked off with a lot of transition and a lot of back and forth. We thought it would be a very tactical game. To be honest with you, the ways that we scored and the ways that we got chances, in particular in the first half, were the ways we thought we were going to get chances. They play with a very high line, which is risky, especially with the speed and dangerous attacking players that we have. It’s kind of how we got behind them and scored. For the past three games we’ve been scored on first, and today we won after tying the two games before. I thought it was a really good effort from our guys to get the win tonight instead of the tie.”

🎙️ “A really good effort from our guys to get the win tonight” #GoHoos⚔️ pic.twitter.com/RN9qCdTS9V

— Virginia Men’s Soccer (@UVAMenSoccer) October 14, 2023

ADDITIONAL NOTES

• The win takes the Cavaliers into second place in the ACC Coastal Division with 10 points
• Annor scored his seventh goal in his last eight matches and his eighth of the season overall
• Thiam scored his third goal of the season and recorded his fourth assist
• Wiese tallied his fifth assist of the season to lead the team in the category
• Miller has scored or assisted in all three matches he has played against Pitt
• This marks the third consecutive match in which Virginia has rallied from a 1-0 deficit to earn a positive result
• Virginia logs its first comeback victory of the season
• The Cavaliers extend their unbeaten streak to five games—the longest of the season
• Virginia improves to 7-1-1 at home his season and is unbeaten in its last seven home matches
• Virginia is now 3-2-2 against ranked opposition this season
• Virginia improves to 10-4-2 all-time against Pitt and have won three straight against the Panthers

UP NEXT

Virginia hits the road for the last time in the regular season next Friday when the Cavaliers travel to Blacksburg to take on Virginia Tech in the Smithfield Commonwealth Clash. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.