No. 6 Portland Blanks No. 11 Santa Clara

A capacity crowd at Merlo Field cheers Portland to its sixth straight victory.

UP sophomore striker Michelle Enyeart notched her second game-winner of the week. Photo courtesy: UP Athletics

PORTLAND, Ore. - In a battle of West Coast Conference juggernauts, the No. 6 Portland Pilots put on a show and defeated No. 11 Santa Clara 2-0 before a sold out crowd of 4,892 at Merlo Field on Sunday.

Sophomore striker Michelle Enyeart notched her second game-winner of the week and senior Angie Woznuk converted a second half penalty kick as the Pilots (13-3-0, 5-0-0 WCC) continued their solid play.

Portland and Santa Clara have a storied rivalry as the West Coast foes have won or shared every WCC title in league history and claimed three of the last six national championships.

The Pilots moved one step closer to matching the Broncos (10-5-3, 2-3-0) with nine conference championships after Sunday. Portland has now won six games in a row, while the Broncos fall to 3-5-2 in their last 10 matches.

“It was a great day,” Portland head coach Garrett Smith said after the match. “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. Both teams seemed a bit fatigued after some hard-fought matches earlier this week, but I think the fans were treated to a good one today.”

Enyeart, who came off the bench late in the first half, provided the first goal with less than a minute remaining in the first half.

After a poor clearance by the Broncos defense, freshman midfielder Keelin Winters headed a ball to senior Natalie Budge. Budge sent a pass forward to Enyeart who headed it on and held off a Santa Clara defender into the penalty box.

She finished from the left to the low right with her left foot past a diving Meagan McCray. It was her sixth goal of the year and extended her conference-leading point total to 23.

Enyeart created Portland’s next score when she was taken down in the box from behind in the 64th minute, drawing a penalty kick.

Woznuk stepped up and drilled it home for her sixth goal of the campaign. She has taken and converted Portland’s only two penalty shots this season.

The game was evenly played for a majority of the first half with Santa Clara coming out of the gates strong with possession.

Portland slowly took control and ended the first stanza with a 7-1 edge in shots. The Pilots gained a 12-5 shot margin for the match, including a 7-0 edge in shots on goal.

“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.”

McCray made five saves, while Portland sophomore goalkeeper Kelsey Davis thwarted a few attacks and snagged some crosses but was not forced to make a save in recording her sixth shutout of the season.

Woznuk led the Pilots with four shots, two on goal, including a 20-yard blast in the first half that went off the cross bar.

Portland has now logged four consecutive shutouts and has outscored opponents 16-1 in WCC games.

“I like where we’re at,” Smith added. “We haven’t allowed a goal since our WCC opener and we’re one step closer to winning the WCC championship and getting to the playoffs.”

The Pilots will hit the road next weekend for a match at Pepperdine on Sunday, Nov. 4 at 1 p.m.

Portland will conclude the regular season at home on Saturday, Nov. 10 against Loyola Marymount at 7 p.m.

One win in either of the final two matches will secure Portland’s ninth WCC title and an NCAA playoff berth.
Source: UP Athletics

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