Courtesy of UB Sports Information
BUFFALO, NY – 2022 Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year Shawn Burke and his MAC champion University at Buffalo women's soccer team (15-1-4, 7-0-4 MAC) will travel to Pittsburgh on Saturday night for the first round of the NCAA Tournament. It is the first trip to the tournament for Pittsburgh while the Bulls will be making their second appearance.
Saturday's match will be played at 7:00 pm at Ambrose Urbanic Field on the campus of the University of Pittsburgh.
Buffalo earned the MAC's automatic qualifying bid after downing Ball State to claim the second MAC Tournament Championship in program history.
The Bulls have played Pittsburgh four times in program history with the Panthers holding the 3-1 edge in the all-time series. The last meeting between the two squads was in 2010 with Pitt earning the victory over the Bulls.
The Bulls enter the NCAA Tournament on a 17-game unbeaten streak, which is a new program record, besting the previous mark set by the 2014 squad. The UB backline has recorded 14 shutouts on the season which is tied for the most in program history.
The Bulls have showed balance all season long as they have scored 36 goals off the feet of 11 different players led by sophomores Jasmine Guerber and Arianna Zumpano who have scored eight goals each. Buffalo leads the nation and the MAC in goals against average (.400) also led the league in total points (119), points per game (5.95), total assists (45), assists per game (2.50), shots on goal per game (7.17) and shutout percentage (.667). They rank second in total goals (33) and scoring offense (1.83).
Defensively, 2022 MAC Goalkeeper of the Year Emily Kelly leads the nation in shutouts (13) while also leading the conference and ranking in the top 10 nationally in goals against average (0.403) and save percentage (.881). Senior Payton Robertson ranked second in the MAC in total assists (8) and assists per game (0.40) while 2022 MAC Defensive Player of the Year Ellie Simmons ranked fourth and fifth, respectively, in those categories.
Pittsburgh was picked as a four-seed for the NCAA Championships after closing out the regular season as the No. 19-ranked team in the country. The Panthers enter the NCAA's with an overall record of 12-4-3 and a conference mark of 5-3-2, after tying No. 4-ranked Notre Dame 1-1 before falling in a penalty kick shootout, 5-4, in the first round of the ACC Tournament. The Panthers set program records for overall wins (12) and ACC wins (5) during the 2022 regular season and qualified for the ACC Championship field for the first time in program history. The team has also set records in points (128) and goals (44) and tied the program record for most home wins in a single season with seven after going 7-1-1 at Ambrose Urbanic Field during the regular season. Pitt boasts two All-ACC honorees in senior midfielder Landy Mertz (All-ACC Third Team) and defender Katie Zailski (All-ACC Freshman Team).
Following weekend action, second-round games will be played Friday, November 18, at campus sites, and third-round games will be played Sunday, November 20, at the same campus sites. Quarterfinal games will be played November 25 or 26 also on campus sites.
The 41st annual NCAA Women's College Cup will be played December 2 and December 5 at WakeMed Soccer Park Cary, North Carolina. The first national semifinal will be played and shown live on ESPNU at 6 p.m. Eastern time Friday, December 2. The second semifinal will begin at approximately 8:30 p.m. Eastern time live on ESPNU. The national championship match will take place at 6 p.m. Eastern time on Monday, December 5 and will also broadcast live on ESPNU.
