Inside The Panthers

Pitt Women's Soccer Defeats Clemson For First Time

Pitt Panthers women's soccer defeated the Clemson Tigers for the first time.
Dominic Campbell|
Pitt Women's Soccer midfielder Deborah Abiodun dribbles in the 4-1 win over Clemson
Pitt Women's Soccer midfielder Deborah Abiodun dribbles in the 4-1 win over Clemson | Courtesy of Pitt Athletics

PITTSBURGH -- Pitt Panthers women's soccer played a fantastic game against Clemson at Ambrose Urbanic Field, finishing with a dominant 4-1 victory.

The win for the Panthers (8-3-2 overall, 2-2-1 ACC) (W-L-D) is their first ever victory over the Tigers (4-5-2 overall, 0-4 ACC), as they were 0-8-1 in their previous nine matches, including a 1-0 loss to the then ranked No. 8 Tigers on Oct. 22, 2023 on the road last season.

It is also their second ACC win on the season, after they lost to both North Carolina at home on Sept. 19 and Cal on the road on Sept. 26, 1-0, and drew with No. 6 Stanford 1-1 on Sept. 29, also on the road.

Pitt senior forward Samiah Phiri came down the left wing and shot on goal. Clemson redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Nona Reason got both hands on it, which fell to senior defender Layne St. George, who weakly cleared it.

Her clearance went right to Pitt senior midfielder Keera Melenhorst, who shot on goal on the volley to open the scoring for the home team in the 11th minute.

That is the second straight game with a goal for Melenhorst, who scored off a long distance effort in the 1-1 draw vs. Stanford.

The Panthers would score again just six minutes later to double their lead, as senior midfielder Ellie Coffield put in a good through ball for sophomore midfielder Deborah Abiodun, who then took a shot with her left foot and put it past Reason for her first goal of the season.

Phiri put the game out of reach in the 62nd minute, cutting down the right wing, moving inside, using a step over and then one dribble to set up a left-footed shot into the net for her eighth goal of the season to make it 3-0 to the Panthers.

Clemson would get one goal back, as sophomore midfielder Christian Brathwaite cut down the endline, through the Pitt defense and slotted it past junior goalkeeper Ellie Breech for the score in the 82nd minute.

Pitt would respond in the 84th minute to restore their three goal lead, at 4-1. Freshman midfielder Rylee Keeley beat out her defender and headed it to senior forward Sarah Schupansky, who cut inside and curled her shot off her left foot into the back of the net for the goal.

Tha goal for Schupansky was her sixth of the season and her first in almost a month, when she scored in the 7-0 victory vs. Mercyhurst at home on Sept. 8.

Breech earned her sixth win of the season and her 23rd of her career, giving her the most wins for a goalkeeper in program history.

Pitt will have a 10-day break between their next game against Syracuse at home on Oct. 13 with a 1:30 p.m. kickoff.

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Dominic Campbell
DOMINIC CAMPBELL

Dominic writes for Pittsburgh Pirates On SI, Pittsburgh Panthers Pn SI and also, Pittsburgh Steelers On SI. A Pittsburgh native, Dominic grew up watching Pittsburgh Sports and wrote for The Pitt News as an undergraduate at the University of Pittsburgh, covering Pitt Athletics. He would write for Pittsburgh Sports Now after college and has years of experience covering sports across Pittsburgh.

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