Quick reversal of fortune puts Pitt soccer on the cusp of the NCAA Tournament

Apr. 16—Less than four years ago, Pitt men's soccer coach Jay Vidovich was painfully honest while describing what playing in the powerful ACC was like in the school's first years in the conference.

"That's being put out in the ocean without a life raft and then putting bricks on your shoulder," he said.

At the time, Pitt was in the midst of a nearly six-year stretch without a conference victory in either the Big East or the ACC. Slugging it out with some of the nation's best teams that annually populate the ACC wasn't easy for Vidovich or his predecessor, Joe Luxbacher.

Yet, it didn't take long for Vidovich and his players to throw away their encumbrances and rise to the top of not only the ACC but of the nation. After an 0-45-7 conference record from 2011 to '17, Pitt (13-2) will take a No. 1 national ranking into South Carolina on Saturday to play No. 4 Clemson (12-3-2) for an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

A Pitt victory would tie a school record (14, set in 1995), but both teams are expected to secure NCAA berths.

The game will be a rematch of the ACC Tournament championship game, won by Clemson, 2-1, in the fall. Perhaps Pitt (9-1 ACC) wasn't at its best for that game. Before the tournament, Pitt had two games canceled by covid protocols and didn't play for three weeks.

"It's pride for us," Vidovich said. "We didn't think we had an opportunity to compete as well as we would have liked. Now, we get a chance to replay that match."

In Vidovich's first three seasons from 2016-18, Pitt was 0-6-2, 2-6 and 2-6 in conference games. Then, Pitt improved to 4-3-1 in 2019 and reached the NCAA Tournament, where it defeated Lehigh, 2-0, and lost to Georgetown, 5-0.

In the current season — broken into fall and spring segments because of the covid-19 pandemic — Pitt won the ACC Coastal Division for the first time.

How did Pitt reverse its fortunes so quickly?

Vidovich's reputation didn't hurt. He is a six-time ACC Coach of the Year (this season and five at Wake Forest, where he won a national championship in 2007).

Also, Pitt's administration starting paying more attention to men's soccer when former athletic director Scott Barnes hired Vidovich in 2015.

"They had a mission then," Vidovich said. "I had an opportunity to meet with Chancellor (Patrick) Gallagher, and he wanted it to be a big sport. They've given us the opportunity to have success."

The coaching staff's domestic and overseas contacts helped, too. Vidovich said he and assistants Michael Behonick and Rich Costanzo "scoured all over the world, really."

A total of 16 of the 28 players are natives of 10 foreign countries. Among them are ACC Offensive Player of the Year Valentin Noel of France, Defensive Player of the Year Jasper Loeffelsend of Germany and Freshman of the Year Bertin Jacquesson of France.

But Vidovich hasn't ignored the WPIAL. The team also includes Greensburg Central Catholic's Luke Mort, Connellsville's Luke Peperak, Quaker Valley's Dominic Reiter and Norwin's Anthony Harding.

"We had to get some people believing in what we were trying to do — go against the odds and try to make our own history," Vidovich said. "That was pretty much the selling point.

"We were ambitious and kind of enjoyed the project of turning the program around. We got a little lucky."

Vidovich acknowledges the difficulty of sustaining success in the ACC, which this season has three of the top teams in the nation — Pitt, Clemson and No. 5 Wake Forest.

"It was (difficult). It is," he said. "We're still not there. Hopefully, we can sustain similar success as we go.

"To be in the best conference in the country and get results is a tough project. You always have to play the big boys."

Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jerry by email at jdipaola@triblive.com or via Twitter .