PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Notre Dame women’s soccer team (7-9, 3-5) will close out their final road trip of the regular season Sunday afternoon when they take on the Pitt Panthers (4-10-1, 0-8) at Ambrose Urbanic Field. With two games left in the regular season, the Irish hope to gain as many points as possible to earn a spot in the ACC Tournament, which begins next weekend.
WHAT: Notre Dame vs. Pitt
WHEN: Oct. 21 at 1 p.m. (ET)
WHERE: Ambrose Urbanic Field (Pittsburgh, Pa.)
BROADCAST: ACC Network Extra
LIVE STATS: UND.com
TWITTER: @NDSoccer
SERIES HISTORY: PANTHERS
The Irish and Panthers will meet for the 15th time in school history Sunday afternoon in Pittsburgh. The two teams have been conference foes in the BIG EAST and now in the ACC as the Irish and Panthers joined the conference before the 2013 season. Notre Dame holds a 13-0-1 series advantage and are 5-0-1 in Pittsburgh. This is the first time the teams have faced each other since Sept. 26, 2016 when the Irish defeated the Panthers 4-0 in South Bend. Notre Dame scored all four goals in the first half and seven different players recorded points that afternoon. Jennifer Westendorf and Karin Muya tallied goals for the Irish while Natalie Ward added an assist. The Irish will be traveling to Pitt for the first time since 2014 when they defeated the Panthers 2-0 on Oct. 20. Muya was the lone member of the current team to play in that game and the Irish had goals in each half from Morgan Andrews and Lauren Bohaboy to claim the win. Pitt is now coached by former Irish head coach Randy Waldrum. Waldrum spent 15 years at Notre Dame and continued to grow the Irish into a national powerhouse. Waldrum won two College Cups (2004, 2010) in his 12 seasons and guided the Irish to eight NCAA Final Four games during that span.
MUYA CONTINUES CAREER BEST YEAR AGAINST HOKIES
Fifth year senior Karin Muya has been with the Irish since 2014 and is in the midst of the best season during her Notre Dame career. After missing last season due to injury, Muya has come back and made her final season one to remember. She has played in all 16 games for the Irish and currently leads the team in goals with seven and points with 15, both of which are career highs. Muya tallied her previous best of four goals and 11 points in her freshman season. Muya has tallied five goals in her previous five games including her first career multi-goal game last Saturday in Notre Dame’s 5-1 win over Syracuse. The London, England native scored her team-leading seventh goal in the second half Thursday against Virginia Tech. She followed it up a Sammi Fisher shot in the box and slotted it inside the right post for the goal.–ND–