Women's soccer continues to outperform the competition
By Dannielle Lowe
Last Saturday, as the crisp autumn air filled Merlo Stadium, the undefeated Pilots routed Loyola Marymount with a 2-0 shut out to finish WCC play in front of 3,482 fans. The third-ranked soccer team celebrated its eighth victory in a row as well as well as the last home game for the team's six seniors.
After a pre-game ceremony, the seniors and their fellow Pilots took the field.
Sophomore striker Michelle Enyeart got the game going with a goal 20 minutes into play. Redshirt-freshman forward Sophie Schmidt led Enyeart with a long pass. Enyeart then sent a shot skimming toward LMU's goal. The ball landed just inside, putting the Pilots up by one.
The Pilots proceeded to pound shots at the LMU goal, out-shooting the Lions 32-4. According to Head Coach Garret Smith, the urgency to score goals is exactly what the Pilots wanted heading into the playoffs.
"It was a great night and great finish to the regular season," he said.
A corner kick by senior All-American Stephanie Lopez gave the Pilots a second opportunity to score. Lopez sent the ball sailing from the left corner toward Enyeart, who then crossed it over to senior defender Emily Michaelson, who headed the ball into the right side of the goal, giving her team a 2-0 lead and herself a second career goal.
The two goals were enough to ensure the Pilots a victory over LMU. The Lions were riding a three-game winning streak coming to Portland and fighting for a NCAA tournament bid, but the Pilots squashed the Lions' hopes with a stunning shut out.
Freshman goalie Hailee De Young stepped up to LMU's challenge, executing two saves for the game while defending the Pilot's goal.
According to Michaelson, the whole team played well.
"It was awesome to go undefeated through the WCC and come out as conference champs and, of course, to win on senior night," Michaelson said. "The night ended up kinda perfect."
Despite a rocky start to the season filled with unfortunate injuries and lineup adjustments, the Pilots prevailed and will enter the playoffs as the No. 3 ranked team.
Portland was the first team in the nation to clinch an NCAA playoff berth after defeating Pepperdine 2-0 on Nov. 3. This will be UP's 15th postseason appearance in the last 16 years. In 2005, the Pilots claimed the NCAA championship title and became the third program to ever win multiple championships.
Monday night the team received a No. 2 seed and will travel to Boulder, Colo., for the first round game in the 2007 NCAA postseason tournament. There, the Pilots will face the Denver Pioneers tomorrow at 1 p.m. in their first-round game.
The first- and second-round games will be played at the University of Colorado. If they win, the Pilots will play the winner of the Colorado or Hawaii first-round game. Students can listen to a live audio broadcast of the opening rounds at portlandpilots.com.
Despite being forced to travel for the first two rounds of the tournament, the team feels prepared.
"We feel good; we feel confident right now. We know we need to continue to get shut outs," Michaelson said. "There's enough talent on the team to score goals, so we just need to keep getting shut outs."
In the past, the Pilots have been successful on the road. In 2005, even as the No. 1 ranked team and No. 1 seed, the Pilots were sent to Lincoln, Neb. And in 2002, the team was sent to Utah for its first round game.
Both years the Pilots ended up bringing home trophies, a distinction that bodes well for the team as it begins postseason play in Boulder tomorrow.
