Pitt soccer finishes 5th straight winless conference season

[mike412]

Natural grass is the way to go. If only we had Louisville money. Soccer recruiting is something Pitt can absolutely turn around. It's not the same as football, where you have the same core schools always dominating. Several years ago, Akron was killing it, Now they aren't even in the top 25. IT also helps that you play more games than in football, so you aren't protecting your schedule like football does. The ACC is the conference to be in for both men's and women's soccer. Maryland, WF, UNC, Clemson, Syracuse, Louisville, ND, UVA, VT are all top 25. That's the competition for Pitt. On the women's side, UVA, Clemson, ND, Duke, FSU, UNC, NC State are all top 25. It's a tough mountain to climb for both programs. But the men are in absolutely great hands. But it'll take some time.

The big reason Akron was so good was their coach. So Louisville hired him away and spent a ton of money on upgrading their facilities. Now, they are a major player.

 

[Joe the Panther Fan]

The big reason Akron was so good was their coach. So Louisville hired him away and spent a ton of money on upgrading their facilities. Now, they are a major player.

The Akron coach with the most success was actually Caleb Porter, who took over after Louisville's current head coach left and who is currently the coach of the Portland Timbers of MLS. Porter's teams won the MAC regular season championship and made the NCAA tournament every year he was there. Ken Lolla's Akron teams weren't nearly that successful.

 

[mattyf98]

Climate isn't a factor. Penn State won the national title last year and pulls in Top 5 recruiting classes every year and WVU is ranked #1 in the country this year. So there goes that theory.

There is merit to your last point about the profile of a typical top soccer recruit. Most are white, upper middle class and suburban. The top programs in the nation have campuses that mirror those demographics (PSU, UNC, Duke, UVA, Stanford).

Absolutely correct here...however, we now have a coach that will bring in a different type of player...while Pitt is in an urban setting it is a top tier academic school and one that keeps getting more and more beautiful with its new construction...as far as soccer...this will continue to take time but the move away from just local talent is important. The biggest selling point for incoming players is a lot of playing time potential...