By John McCarty
With a 4-2 win over Seattle University last Thursday, and a 5-0 stomping of the University of San Francisco on senior Sunday, the men's soccer team now looks ahead to the postseason.
They will play the University of New Mexico Lobos in the first round of playoffs on Thursday.
The Pilots and the Lobos both received an at-large bid in tournament selection. The winner of the game will go on to face North Carolina State, who received a first-round bye.
Prior to the kickoff of Sunday's matchup with the University of San Francisco Dons, there was a special ceremony for the senior players and their families.
Defender Greg Rouse sang the National Anthem and was honored alongside midfielder Collen Warner, midfielder Drew Chrostek and defender Logan Emory were honored before their final game at Merlo Field.
"It's weird to think of the seniors leaving. It just went by so fast. You know it's like you wake up and it's senior year," Emory said.
Sunday's game was particularly rough with a total of 23 fouls between Portland and USF. Freshman forward Marc Tonkel had the lone goal of the first half.
The score broke wide open in the second half with four goals, including one from Warner, who also had an assist on the night.
"I never thought today would come. I really couldn't ask for more," Warner said. "I've got my fingers crossed for the post season."
The Pilot's 5-0 victory over the Dons was important for the seniors and for a chance in the postseason as well.
"This game was a must win for the playoffs," Assistant Coach Rob Baarts said. "It's the last game otherwise."
For the fourteenth time since the program's inception the Men's soccer team will be heading to the playoffs after placing 4th in the West Coast Conference.
In conference the Pilots are 4-4-4 and 10-5-5 overall.
"I just keep reminding myself that my dream was to come here and make a run into the playoffs and I'm very blessed to have the opportunity to do so in my senior year," Emory said in an email.
UP is one of four schools from the WCC that made it into the tournament including the University of San Diego, Loyola Marymount University and Saint Mary's.
The Pilots will face off Thursday at six against the University of New Mexico Lobos for the first round of the NCAA postseason.
The Lobos are 5-2 in league and 12-6-1 overall. They last faced the Pilots in NCAA tournament play in 2004.
"We're obviously happy to be in and we're looking forward to going to New Mexico," Director of Soccer and men's Head Coach Bill Irwin said. "The guys have done well and deserve to be there and we will be ready for the game Thursday night."
As the Pilots look to go into the postseason for the first time since 2007, they will certainly be looking to shutdown New Mexico's number one forward Justin Davis, who leads the team in goals, assists, points and game-winning goals.
This is not the first time the Pilots have faced the Lobos in the postseason, recently the Pilots were eliminated by the Lobos in 2004 by a score of 4-1.
New Mexico also holds an edge over the Pilots in the all-important Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), ranked 28th while the Pilots hold 43rd.
The Pilots, however, hold an equally powerful scorer in Warner, who matches Davis in every category except game-winning goals.
The Pilots also hold a slim advantage in their own goal, where junior Austin Guerrero has posted both a better save percentage and goals against average than UNM's junior goalkeeper Justin Fite.
