In a stressful contest against Duke on March 10, Pitt coach Emily Boissonneault couldn’t help but find herself getting emotional on the sidelines.

“I could tell that the team believed we could beat a top 10 team,” Boissonneault said. “I’ve always known it. I think our staff knows it. From the sidelines to on the field, I think the entire team truly believed what we were capable of. And that belief can take us so much further than work ethic and confidence and skill.”

Over the past two weeks, Pitt, which began competition just this season, went toe-to-toe with conference foes No. 7 Duke and then-unranked Virginia Tech in just a five-day span. The ACC’s newest program pushed both teams to the brink, going back and forth and even taking the Hokies to triple overtime. Pitt lost each matchup by just one goal.

These competitive losses in the ACC have played a part in building momentum, said graduate attacker Paige Petty.

“We are relentless,” Petty said. “It’s exciting to see that energy rub off on all of us. You have that spiral of energy trickle down the entire team, especially with the coaches as well. It’s cool getting that close to knowing we can compete with those teams.”

Petty, Pitt’s leading scorer this season, spent four years playing ACC lacrosse at Virginia Tech before transferring this season. She said her transition has been easy, especially after playing for the Hokies — another “underdog” program in the conference. She played a central role in Pitt’s near-takedown of Virginia Tech on March 5, scoring five goals with eight draw controls in a weird, but friendly game experience, she said.

Beyond Petty, Pitt’s attack is led by a group of players of all class years. Seven players have scored five or more goals this season, and five have recorded three or more assists. Petty said she’s enjoyed continuing to work with assistant coach Gregg Gebhard, another Pitt addition from Virginia Tech, and help the younger players in the unit

“They will make mistakes that you just have to make and move on from coming into [the] collegiate level,” Petty said. “I enjoy helping them build from that and letting them know it is OK to make those mistakes. It could happen in a huge spotlight, or it could happen in practice. But you move on from it, and eventually you’ll meet your expectations and continue to advance.”

Beyond their more contested matchups, the Panthers have also secured a few dominant wins this season. Some of their biggest victories include a 22-8 rout of St. Bonaventure in February — the largest margin of victory in the young program’s history — and a 17-11 defeat of Binghamton on Sunday.

Pitt’s weekend win against the Bearcats came on the heels of its back-to-back losses to Virginia Tech and Duke, which Boissonneault said was a nice way to continue laying the groundwork for the program.

“One of the things we’ve talked about as a team is that our ACC counterparts, they don’t care who they play,” Boissonneault said. “They want to dominate every game, and they approach every game like it’s the most important one. That’s something we’ve really tried to talk to our athletes about. They took that pretty seriously this weekend.”

Now, the Panthers sit at 4-4, but Boissonneault couldn’t be prouder of the team’s tenacity along the way — regardless of the outcome in close matchups.

“I’m extremely proud of how hard we work as a team,” Boissonneault said. “I’ve always known that we’ve had tough athletes and resilient young women, but I think our confidence grows every game because of that fight. We’re learning how to outwork and be more physical and be more confident in ourselves.”