By Joseph Kurtz
It was another typical gray afternoon on campus last Sunday and it was another routine win for the women's soccer team as they beat rival Santa Clara University 4-0 in the last regular season game at Merlo Field.
The results may have been expected but the game was filled with everything from birthdays and breakout games to tearful farewells.
Emotions followed Sunday's game, dubbed Senior Day, as senior Korie Nicholson and All-Americans and team captains Megan and Rachael Rapinoe played their last regular season game on Merlo Field.
Perhaps the climax of the evening came with just one minute left when Rachael Rapinoe, although out for the season with an ACL tear, came onto the pitch to a standing ovation from the Pilot faithful.
"It was special to get Rachael out on the field," head coach Garrett Smith said. "It's fitting that she gets recognized for what she's done for this team."
Her twin sister Megan went out with the same fire and intensity that she brought to Portland as a freshman as she made plays all over the field, including scoring the second goal of the night when she took a long cross from sophomore Jessica Tsao, and glided through the air, similar to Michael Jordan, and kicking the ball past the SCU keeper.
"I definitely started to tear up a bit at the end, but there was still some time left in the game so I had to hold it together," Megan Rapinoe said of her emotions after the game.
Nicholson also enjoyed a terrific game as she made numerous great stops on the ensuing Bronco strikers. She anchored the Pilot defense that, along with junior keeper Kelsey Davis, recorded their 13th shutout of the season.
Another highlight of the game came from Tsao, who on her 20th birthday, assisted three of the four Pilot goals. She helped on the first goal as she took a feed from freshman Michelle Olivier and dribbled into the Broncos box, then laid a perfect pass over to sophomore Sophie Schmidt who punished the ball into the back of the net.
On the second goal of the night in the 18th minute Tsao drilled a long pass from about 50 yards out to Megan Rapinoe who, as described earlier, finished the ball into the Bronco net.
"That was a great pass by Jess," Megan Rapinoe said. "She put the ball right where it needed to be, and happy birthday!"
Later in the game, Tsao hooked up with Schmidt again to get her final assist when she crossed a ball from the right side into the middle of the field and Schmidt headed the ball to the right of the SCU goalie.
Schmidt, who earned West Coast Conference player of the week honors last week, continued her stifling scoring streak. She has now tallied nine goals in her last eight games.
Under-20 national team member junior Michelle Enyeart made her mark on the game in limited minutes when in the 75th minute, she made a great move on the SCU defender and found herself all alone with the goalie, then made a juke to the left of the goalie and lightly tapped the ball into a wide open net for her sixth goal of the season.
With this emotional win the Pilots must stay focused as the WCC title is on the line this Saturday when the Pilots take on No. 16 University of San Diego. Both teams are undefeated in the WCC. Smith stated the importance of this game explaining, "that is going to be big for us because obviously both teams are playing not only for the prestige of the WCC championship, but more about the seeding for the playoffs."
Megan Rapinoe also knows the meaning of Saturday's game. "We're excited for the big game, and for playing for the WCC title."
After the final game of the regular season this Saturday at 8:00 p.m. in San Diego, California the Pilots will then play the first and second rounds of the playoffs on Nov. 14-16. Portland is hoping for a first round home seed as the brackets will be announced Nov. 10 live on ESPNews at 5 p.m.
