Virginia Falls in Regular Season Finale at No. 1 Pitt

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – No. 1 Pitt (13-2, 5-1 ACC Spring) secured its first ever Coastal Division Championship with a 5-0 win over Virginia (7-8-1, 2-4-0 ACC Spring) on Friday (April 8) at Ambrose Urbana Field.

Pitt bookended the first half with a goal just 3:02 into the match by Alexander Dexter and made it 2-0 with 15 seconds remaining in the first stanza to take a two-goal lead into the half. The Panthers outshot Virginia, 9-1 and Virginia goalkeeper Alex Rando (New York, N.Y.) made all three of his saves in the first 45 minutes of action.

The goal by Dexter was the second quickest goal by a Virginia opponent this season, only four seconds behind Valentin Noel’s goal in the first meeting against Pitt in the fall.

The Panthers put the game out of reach in the second half with two goals 1:31 minute span beginning in the 67^th minute. Bertin Jacquesson curled a free kick over the Virginia wall for the third goal of the match and Filip Mirkovic made it a four-goal game with third goal of the season. Pitt scored for the last time with 22 seconds left in the match, a header by Bryce Washington.

The Cavaliers and Panthers were even in the second half with six shot attempts apiece. Two of the six shots for Virginia landed on target while three of Pitt’s on frame attempts landed in the back of the net.

As the Coastal Division Champion, Pitt will play Clemson on April 17 in the ACC Championship and an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Additional Notes

• Pitt has won four consecutive games against Virginia including a 3-2 OT victory at Klöckner Stadium in the fall. Virginia came into the match unbeaten on the road at Pitt (2-0-1). Virginia is 7-4-1 all-time against Pitt.
• Louis Evans (Canterbury, New Zealand) and Julian Aguilar (Guatemala City, Guatemala) both made their first starts in a Virginia uniform. Evans played all 90 minutes while Aguilar played all but six minutes of the match.
• Virginia came into the match unbeaten (3-0-2) in its last five matches against No. 1 ranked teams. Under George Gelnovatch, the Cavaliers drop to 6-5-3 against top-ranked teams.
• Irakoze Donasiyano (Roanoke, Va.) played all 90 minutes of the match and has not missed a minute of action all year. He made his 57^th-straight start.