Pittsburgh Panthers women's soccer

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Pittsburgh Panthers women's soccer
Soccerball current event.svg 2025 Pittsburgh Panthers women's soccer team
Pitt Panthers wordmark.svg
Founded1996;29 years ago (1996)
University University of Pittsburgh
Head coachBen Waldrum (1st season)
Conference ACC
Location Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Stadium Ambrose Urbanic Field
(Capacity: 735)
Nickname Panthers
ColorsBlue and gold [1]
   
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Home
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Away
NCAA Tournament Quarterfinals
2023
NCAA Tournament Round of 16
2022, 2023
NCAA Tournament Round of 32
2022, 2023
NCAA Tournament appearances
2022, 2023

The Pittsburgh Panthers women's soccer team represent the University of Pittsburgh in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) of NCAA Division I women's college soccer. The team has never won a conference championship. The Panthers have played in both the ACC and Big East. [2]

Contents

History

1990s

The Pittsburgh Panthers women's soccer team was founded in 1996 under head coach Roland Sturk and did not play in a conference in the program's first year. The team finished with a 3–16 record. The following year, the team joined the Big East Conference, where Pittsburgh was a full member. The Panthers had fewer losses than their inaugural season, finishing 3–12–3 overall and 2–8–1 in conference play. The team's first conference win came vs. West Virginia on October 8, 1997. 1998 saw continued improvement for the Panthers. The team finished 8–11 overall and 5–7 in conference play. This record was good enough to qualify for the Big East Conference Women's Soccer Tournament. However, the team lost in the quarterfinals. 1999 saw a bit of a regression when the team finished 5–12–1 and 1–4–1 in conference play.

2000s

The 2000s began similarly for the Panthers, only winning 6 games and losing 12. Another 1 win conference season was not good enough to qualify for the Big East Tournament. 2001 saw another minor improvement, with the team winning 7 games, and increasing its win tally to 2 in conference play. However, 2002 proved to be a disappointing year when the team finished 4–15, and winless in conference play. In January 2003 head coach Roland Sturk resigned as coach. [3] In March 2003, Sue-Moy Chin was named the Panthers' second head coach. [4] Her first seasons saw small improvements, however, the team lost double digit games in 2003, 2004, and 2005. However, the team increased its conference win totals as well and qualified for the Big East Tournament in 2005 and 2006. Both appearances resulted in quarterfinal exits. 2006 was the team's first season without a losing record. The team finished 8–8–3. The team would again reach the quarterfinal of the Big East Tournament in 2008. The team closed the decade with their first-ever winning season, finishing 8–5–5 overall and 3–3–5 in conference play. It was also the first season the team did not have a losing record in conference play.

2010s

The decade opened with another qualification into the Big East Tournament, and another quarterfinal loss. However, the success would be short lived as the team finished with just 2 wins in 2011. This season would be bad enough for the team to hire a third coach in its history, Greg Miller. Miller was previously an assistant at Ohio State. [5] Miller's first year, 2012, saw the team finish 7–10–2 overall. In his second season in charge, the team began play in the Atlantic Coast Conference. [6] In their first season, the Panthers went a winless 0–13 in ACC play. The team made steady progress finishing with 2 conference wins in 2014 and 4 conference wins in 2015. 2015 would also be the team's second overall winning season. The Panthers finished 10–7–1. However, in 2016 and 2017 the team would win one ACC game. After the 2017 season, Miller was fired. [7] In December 2017, Randy Waldrum was hired as the new head coach. [8] Waldrum previously won the NCAA title twice with Notre Dame. However, his first season proved difficult, only winning 4 overall games and finishing 0–10 in ACC play. In his second season, the Panthers posted their first ACC win since 2016, finishing with a 2–6–2 ACC record.

2020s

The decade started with a season shortened by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Panthers' season was shortened less than other teams in the conference, as they played eight non-conference games. The team finished tenth overall in the ACC regular season, with a 3–5–0 record. They won all eight of those non-conference games to finish the season with eleven total wins, setting a program record. 2021 saw a return to a more normal schedule for the Panthers and they finished 11–7–0 and 4–6–0 in the ACC to tie for ninth place. Their four conference wins tied for the teams most since they joined the ACC, with the other time being in 2015. In 2022, the Panthers finished 14–5–3 and 5–3–2 in ACC play. The 14 wins were the most in program history at the time, and the five conference wins were tied for the most in program history. They qualified for their first ever ACC Tournament and their first NCAA Tournament in program history. [9] They reached the Round of 16 before falling to Florida State to end their historic season. 2023 would follow in the success of 2022, as the Panthers finished 17–6–1 overall and 6–3–1 in ACC play. This was a program record for wins and conference wins, bettering their marks from the previous season. They again qualified for the ACC and NCAA Tournaments, and recorded their best finishes in those tournaments in program history. They made the Semifinals of the ACC Tournament and Quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament before being defeated by Florida State in both tournaments. 2024 proved to be a regression for the team as they finished 9–6–3 overall and 3–5–2 in ACC play. They did not qualify for the ACC or NCAA tournaments after qualifying for two straight years.

Personnel

Current roster

As of August 11, 2025 [10]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No.Pos.NationPlayer
0 GK Flag of the United States.svg  USA Ellie Breech
1 GK Flag of the United States.svg  USA Abigail Reisz
2 DF Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  CAN Mya Archibald
3 FW Flag of the United States.svg  USA Maya Bright
4 DF Flag of England.svg  ENG Holly Tickle
5 DF Flag of France.svg  FRA Claire Pannier-Jacquemart
6 MF Flag of France.svg  FRA Mariama Dabo
7 FW Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  CAN Sofia Doheny
8 FW Flag of the United States.svg  USA Lola Abraham
9 FW Flag of the United States.svg  USA Lucia Wells
10 MF Flag of the Netherlands.svg  NED Roos Wittgen
11 MF Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  CAN Magali Gagne
12 DF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Sage Stelzer
13 DF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Maya Bruce
14 DF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Olivia Lee
No.Pos.NationPlayer
15 FW Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  CAN Adi Bianchin
16 FW Flag of the United States.svg  USA Margaret Wilde
17 MF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Hannah Minogue
18 FW Flag of Morocco.svg  MAR Alia Jaidi
19 FW Flag of the United States.svg  USA Emily Cooper
20 MF Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Celine Ottah
21 DF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Katie Zailski
22 FW Flag of the United States.svg  USA Bailey Wagenknecht
23 GK Flag of the United States.svg  USA Krystina Wolf
24 MF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Kaite Ellermeyer
26 FW Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Okah Adaobi Judith
27 MF Flag of Nigeria.svg  NGA Adoo Philomina Yina
28 FW Flag of the United States.svg  USA Ellie Rowlands
30 DF Flag of the United States.svg  USA Sophie Rourke

Team management

PositionStaff
Technical Director Randy Waldrum
Head CoachBen Waldrum
Assistant CoachJesse Goleman
Assistant CoachBrianna Alleyne

Seasons

SeasonHead coach [11] Season result [12] Tournament results
OverallConferenceConferenceNCAA
WinsLossesTiesWinsLossesTies
Independent
1996Roland Sturk3160No Conference
Big East Conference
1997Roland Sturk3123281
19988110570Quarterfinal
19995121141
20006121150
2001791240
20024150060
2003Sue-Moy Chin5102141
20046101271
20054113362Quarterfinal
2006883362Quarterfinal
20076102182
20087121461Quarterfinal
2009855335
20107112461Quarterfinal
20112134182
2012Greg Miller7102262
Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC)
2013Greg Miller41410130
20146120280
20151071460
20162151190
20173123091
2018 Randy Waldrum 41210100
2019 5103262
2020 1150350
2021 1170460
2022 1453532 First round Round of 16
2023 1761631 Semifinal Quarterfinals
2024 963352
Totals163216265011510

Notable alumni

Current professional players

As of December 30, 2024

References

  1. "Color Palette". Pitt Athletics Brand Identity Manual (PDF). February 9, 2022. Retrieved July 27, 2024.
  2. "2016 Women's Soccer Media Guide & Fact Book" (PDF). pittsburghpanthers.com. University of Pittsburgh. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
  3. "Roland Sturk Resigns as Head Women's Soccer Coach". pittsburghpanthers.com. University of Pittsburgh Athletics. January 17, 2003. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  4. "Sue-Moy Chin Named Head Women's Soccer Coach". pittsburghpanthers.com. University of Pittsburgh Athletics. March 27, 2003. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  5. "Pitt names Greg Miller Head Soccer Coach". ohiostatebuckeyes.com. Ohio State University. January 1, 2012. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  6. Gates, Chris (July 18, 2012). "4-1-Zoo: It's Official, Pitt Moves To The ACC In 2013". CBS Pittsburgh. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  7. Batko, Brian (November 3, 2017). "Pitt fires women's soccer coach Greg Miller". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  8. Meyer, Craig (December 19, 2017). "Pitt hires Randy Waldrum as women's soccer coach". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved May 8, 2019.
  9. "Pitt women's soccer team makes first ever ncaa tournament". post-gazette.com. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. November 7, 2022. Retrieved December 20, 2022.
  10. "2025 Women's Soccer Roster". pittsburghpanthers.com. University of Pittsburgh Athletics. Retrieved August 11, 2025.
  11. 2016 Media Guide , pp. 37
  12. 2016 Media Guide , pp. 58–60