String of victories propels Pilots towards playoffs
By Andy Matarrese
Last week was a productive one for the Pilot women's soccer team, which soundly defeated both Santa Clara and San Diego to further its advance toward the WCC title.
The team blanked conference rival and perennial powerhouse Santa Clara 2-0 for a sell-out crowd at Merlo Field Sunday, bringing the team's record to 5-0 in the WCC.
The two teams have either won or shared the WCC title each year since 1992, the year the conference began sponsoring the sport.
The match began slowly for the Pilots, with Santa Clara controlling possession for the first ten minutes. The Broncos managed to scoop up multiple passes between Portland players and were able to maneuver back behind the ball.
"It was definitely a battle for the first ten minutes," senior midfielder Natalie Budge said. "Once the game settled down, we started to combine and get those little through balls to our forwards."
Santa Clara successfully threatened several times early in the first half, but as the game wore on, the Pilots wrested control of the pace, ending the first half on a goal from the top of the box by sophomore forward Michelle Enyeart off an assist by Budge.
It was Enyeart's sixth goal of the year and extended her career total to 23, leading the WCC.
"It's like the first round of a boxing match," Head Coach Garrett Smith said. "You're not going to go out and look for the haymaker in the first round. Slowly but surely, we took over the game and it showed throughout the rest of the game."
The first half ended with the Pilots holding Santa Clara to one shot versus their seven and managing to carry over their momentum to the next half. Portland held the advantage throughout the remainder of the game, ending 12-5 in shots and not allowing a single shot on goal for Santa Clara.
"We told the team midway through the first half to be more aggressive," Smith said. "We wanted to put the pressure on, not back off and not worry about saving anything for the second half. I was pleased with how the team responded."
Portland expanded its lead in the 64th minute after Enyeart was taken down in the box, drawing a penalty kick for the Pilots. Woznuk took the kick and found the back of the net to bring the team's lead to 2-0.
"It was a great day," an elated Smith said. "The sun was out, it was a packed house and two playoff teams battled it out. To get the win and a shutout made it that much better ... I think the fans were treated to a good one today."
While the weather was chilling for the Thursday game, the outcome was much the same as with Sunday's, with the Pilots trouncing the San Diego Toreros 4-0, ending San Diego's 11-game winning streak.
The Pilots fired off the first shot in the seventh minute, with Enyeart taking possession at midfield, beating a defender to move it down to go one-on-one with San Diego's keeper, squeezing one inside the left post.
Offensively, Portland controlled the possession for most of the game, dictating the pace of play, ending with 25 shots and 13 on goal. The Pilot defense held San Diego to a paltry five total shots, with redshirt sophomore Kelsey Davis forced to make only one save.
Another blast from senior defender and World Cup veteran Stephanie Lopez in the 22nd minute brought the game to 2-0, not long after a San Diego forward made the team's one great threat of the match, bouncing one away off the crossbar in a lucky break for the Pilots.
In the second half, sophomore forward Sophie Schmidt knocked in a header off the crossbar from an assist by Woznuk in the 60th minute.
The game was Schmidt's fifth at forward, returning from World Cup play in September. Schmidt has been filling in for the injured Rapinoe sisters.
"The first couple of games were a little sketchy, but the more I play, the more comfortable I feel," she said.
Barely over one minute later, a shot from Budge was deflected by San Diego's goalie right to Schmidt, who made the kick from eight yards to bring it to a comfortable 4-0 lead.
Portland's two victories over Santa Clara and San Diego bring the women's overall record to 13-3. The team's next game is at Pepperdine on Nov. 4, and its final game of the regular season is at home against Loyola Marymount on Nov. 10. A win in either of the next two matches will secure Portland's ninth WCC title and an NCAA playoff spot.
"By no means are we content with where we're at," Smith said.
