No. 2 Portland Meets No. 1 UCLA Tonight

Since the return of senior defender Stephanie Lopez, Portland is 11-0 with 10 shutouts and have outscored opponents 33-1.

Portland players celebrate a 3-0 victory over third-seeded Tennessee last Saturday. Photo courtesy: University of Portland Athletics

LOS ANGELES - The two top-ranked teams in the nation will meet in an NCAA women’s soccer quarterfinals match as the No. 2 Portland Pilots (18-3-0) will make their second appearance this season at Drake Stadium to face No. 1 UCLA (19-1-2).

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the contest will be televised live in the Portland market on Comcast SportsNet (channel 37).

A live audio broadcast will be available courtesy of portlandpilots.com and live statistics of all playoff matches will be available at ncaasports.com.

The teams will be meeting in the playoffs for the third consecutive season. The Pilots defeated UCLA 4-0 in the 2005 NCAA title game, while the Bruins ousted the Pilots from the playoffs last year with a 2-1, come-from-behind win at Drake Stadium in the quarterfinals.

UCLA also knocked off the Pilots in late September by a 2-1 margin in overtime. Portland was without All-American senior defender Stephanie Lopez during that match as she was still with the USA Women’s World Cup team in China.

Portland advanced to the quarterfinals after a dominating effort over third-seeded Tennessee on Saturday at Merlo Field. The Pilots outshot UT 28-8 and cruised to a 3-0 victory. Sophomore striker Michelle Enyeart scored two goals, senior Natalie Budge notched the third, while freshman striker Sophie Schmidt had two assists.

Since the return of Lopez, Portland is 11-0 with 10 shutouts and have outscored opponents 33-1. The Pilots are also riding a school record nine-match shutout streak. The team ranks second nationally in goals-against average (0.425) and 10th in scoring (2.57).

The Pilots wrapped up the fourth perfect West Coast Conference season in school history with a 7-0-0 record in league play and swept the WCC individual awards: Angie Woznuk (Player of the Year), Lopez (Defender of the Year), Keelin Winters (Freshman of the Year), and Garrett Smith (Coach of the Year) were all recognized by the league’s head coaches.

Portland’s winning streak has coincided with the return of Lopez from World Cup duty and position change of Schmidt from defense to striker.

Lopez started for the USA at left back and helped the team to a third-place finish, while Schmidt started all three of Canada’s matches at the World Cup.

In her 11 games up top, Schmidt has seven goals and seven assists. The positional change was in response to twin sisters Rachael (4g in 4 games) and Megan Rapinoe (USA National Team, unanimous All-American) being sidelined for the remainder of the season with torn ACL’s.

Enyeart leads the Pilots with 37 points (11g, 15a) and is one assist shy of the school’s single-season record, while Woznuk is second overall with 23 points (8g, 7a).

Sophomore goalkeeper Kelsey Davis has started 16 matches with a 0.33 goals-against average (No. 1 nationally) and 36 saves. Davis enters Saturday’s match riding a 657-minute shutout streak.

Head coach Garrett Smith is in his fifth year at the helm and posts a career record of 96-14-7. Smith led the Pilots to the 2005 NCAA Championship, making Portland just the third school to win multiple titles. Portland’s next victory will be the 400th in school history.

Scouting UCLA:

The Bruins (19-1-2) are the unanimous No. 1 in the nation and the only one of four No. 1 seeds still remaining in the field of 64. The Bruins are riding a 16-match winning streak entering Friday night and hold the nation’s longest home unbeaten streak at 40 matches.

UCLA scraped by fourth-seeded Virginia in the third round as sophomore forward Lauren Cheney’s golden goal in the eighth minute of overtime clinched the come-from-behind win. Virginia broke a scoreless tie in the 76th minute to go up 1-0, but sophomore Kristina Larsen tied things up with a goal in the 83rd minute. That set the stage for Cheney’s overtime strike.

Cheney set UCLA’s single-season scoring record this year with 55 points (22g, 11a). Senior Danesha Adams adds 13 goals and eight assists, while crafty senior midfielder Christina DiMartino adds six goals and 11 assists. Senior goalkeeper Valerie Henderson posts a 0.47 goals-against average and has recorded 59 saves on the season.

UCLA has appeared in the last four NCAA College Cups. Head coach Jillian Ellis is in her ninth season at UCLA. The 2000 NSCAA/adidas National Coach of the Year, Ellis owns a record of 172-32-9 at UCLA and has led the Bruins to five total NCAA College Cup appearances.

Portland-UCLA Series:

UCLA owns a 5-1 edge in the all-time series. Portland defeated the Bruins 4-0 in the 2005 NCAA Championship match, but UCLA came back with a 2-1, come-from-behind win over the Pilots last year in a quarterfinals match at Drake Stadium. The Bruins and Pilots met earlier this season at Drake Stadium and UCLA earned a 2-1 overtime victory as Kara Lang notched both goals for the winning side.

Watch Party on Campus:

A watch party has been scheduled for the match on campus at the Buckley Center Auditorium. Students and fans are encouraged to show up and cheer on the Pilots in their quest for a third NCAA Championship. Doors will open at 6 p.m. and seating capacity is approximately 400 for BC Auditorium.

Source: University of Portland

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