Budge, Rapinoe Lead No. 4 Pilots Over Oregon State

Seniors Natalie Budge and Rachael Rapinoe score two goals each in 4-1 victory.

Photo courtesy: UP Athletics

PORTLAND, Ore. - Seniors Rachael Rapinoe and Natalie Budge tallied two goals each as the No. 4 Portland Pilots routed Oregon State 4-1 Monday afternoon at Merlo Field.

Sophomore forward Michelle Enyeart added three assists as the Pilots improve to 2-0-0 on the season.

Rapinoe and Budge, who each scored in Portland’s 2-1 overtime victory against No. 6 Florida State, continued their offensive onslaught Monday to the delight of 2,844 home fans.

Rapinoe started the scoring in the 12th minute after taking a pass from Budge and finishing to the upper left past goalkeeper Ashley Wood.

Budge made it 2-0 in the 27th minute, capping a beautiful sequence of passing with a 12-yard strike the low right.

Rapinoe sent a through ball to Enyeart inside the left of the penalty box. Enyeart back-heeled a pass to Budge on a full sprint with just Wood to beat and had a classy finish.

Portland made it 3-0 before halftime with another goal from the Enyeart-Budge combination.

In the 44th minute, Enyeart weaved her way around a few Beavers in the box before laying off a pass to Budge at the top of the box.

Budge hammered a left-footed shot inside the left post for her third goal of the young season.

The Beavers (1-1-0) spoiled the shutout in the 78th minute when senior forward Jodie Taylor found some space and lofted a 20-yard shot off the underside of the crossbar and into the net to make it a 3-1 affair, but Rapinoe capped the scoring four minutes later after being led into a 1-v-1 with Wood on yet another setup by Enyeart. Her finish from the left to the right post was her third strike of the year.

The Pilots held a 17-6 edge in shots and 6-2 margin in corner kicks. Wood recorded five saves for the Beavers (1-1-0).

“There was so much energy Saturday against Florida State and I thought that may have impacted us today,” Portland head coach Garrett Smith said. “We didn’t bring the energy I thought we should have consistently throughout the match, but overall 4-1 is a great result against an instate rival.”

All six freshmen on the Pilots’ roster took the pitch on Monday for coach Smith.

“It was huge to get everyone on the field this early in the season,” Smith said. “It’s invaluable and it will pay dividends down the road because everyone is going to know what to do and be more comfortable with some experience.”

Portland will next head to the Nike Husky Invitational on Sept. 7-9 in Seattle, Wash. The Pilots will face Cal State Fullerton on Friday at 4:30 p.m. and Purdue on Sunday at 11 a.m.

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