PITTSBURGH – Point Park women's soccer will make its first-ever appearance in the Mountain East Conference Tournament on Sunday afternoon, taking on second-seeded Concord out of the league's south division. The matchup is slated for 1 p.m. Sunday at Callaghan Stadium in Athens.
Point Park is the No. 3 north seed in the tournament after finishing with a league record of 6-5-3 this fall (8-6-4 overall). Concord enters the matchup with a record of 9-3-3 in conference play (10-5-3 overall).
Point Park won the head-to-head matchup between the two teams during the regular season, topping the Mountain Lions 2-1 at Highmark Stadium back on Oct. 15.
Rebecca Pihlgren and
Sterre Kuijper scored the Point Park goals in the win.
Storylines
- Point Park had three players earn All-MEC honors on Friday afternoon, including Pihlgren garnering accolades as the league's 2025 Freshman of the Year. Kuijper and junior defender Maggie Oduor were each named honorable mention All-MEC.
- In 17 games and 11 starts, Pihlgren, from Stockholm, Sweden, recorded 11 goals and five assists to finish the season with 27 points to lead the Pioneers in 2025. Twenty-four of her 38 shots were on-target, and she also finished the year with three game-winning goals.
- Heading into the MEC Tournament, Pihlgren ranks second in the league in goals, points and game-winning goals. She also ranks seventh in the league in assists and sixth in shots on goal.
- Kuijper, a graduate student midfielder from the Netherlands, made all 18 starts for Point Park this season and finished the year with seven goals and four assists (18 points). She went 2-for-2 on penalty kicks and also recorded a game-winner this season.
- Oduor, from Hurricane, West Virginia, made 17 starts on Point Park's defense that ranks fourth in the league in goals allowed. Point Park finished the year with five shutouts and gave up one goal or less in 10 games this season.
- A surprise omission from the conference's yearly awards, junior forward Paula Sole ranked third on the team in points with 16 this season. Despite missing four games, Sole scored five goals and passed out a team-high six assists for the Pioneers offence. She had two game-winning goals.
- In addition to the top three goal scorers on the team, the Pioneers also got four goals apiece from Martina Cardemil and Maria Gomez, three goals from Maya Figueroa, and two each from Anne Barbosa and Laura Walberg. Sixteen Pioneers have found the back of the net this season.
- The winner of Sunday's matchup in Athens will play the winner of the Fairmont State-Glenville State matchup in Wednesday's semifinal round. The highest remaining seed will host the game.
