CSUN Game notes

(Or Valley State as it was known in my youth)

#22 PORTLAND PILOTS (6-2-1)

vs. CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE MATADORS (3-3-3)

Date: Thursday, Sept. 27, 2012

Location: Portland, Ore.

Kick-off: 7:00 p.m.

Stadium: Merlo Field (4,892)

Live Video/Audio (free): PilotsVideo.com

Live Stats: PortlandPilots.com

POR vs. CSUN

Overall Series: 2-0-0

Here: 0-0-0

There: 2-0-0

Neutral: 0-0-0

Last: POR 1, @CSUN 0 (Sept. 25, 2011)

THIS WEEK

• The No. 22 Pilots welcome the Cal State Northridge Matadors to Merlo Field for their lone match this week on Thursday night at 7 p.m.

• The Pilots have won the only two previous meetings against the Matadors, which both came in Northridge, Calif., in 2010 and 2011.

LAST WEEK

• The Pilots split a pair of games at Merlo Field, defeating Seattle U 3-0 on Friday night before dropping a 3-1 decision to Denver on Sunday afternoon.

• Against the Redhawks, Micaela Capelle scored the game-winner in the 19th minute, while Kaila Cameli scored twice in the second half as the Pilots recorded their fifth shutout of the season.

• Cameli then scored her third straight goal for the Pilots on Sunday to give Portland an early 1-nil lead; but the Pioneers responded with three unanswered goals en route to the win.

ABOUT THE PILOTS...

• The Pilots checked in at No. 13 in the NCAA’s first RPI rankings of the season.

• Kaila Cameli has scored three straight goals for the Pilots.

• Frisbie has been named the WCC Player of the Week twice this season; her first honor came after she scored four goals during a 5-0 win over Fresno State on Aug. 31.

• Ellen Parker was also named the league player of the week after notching the game-winner against North Carolina during the season opener.

• Portland, which is averaging home crowds of 3,681 fans per game, has had two sellouts this season at Merlo Field, which has a capacity of 4,892.

• Portland received one first place vote and was chosen to finish fifth in the WCC Preseason Poll of the league’s nine head coaches; Micaela Capelle was voted to the 2012 Preseason All-WCC Team.

• UP has advanced to at least the second round of the NCAA playoffs for 12 straight years.

• Portland won the NCAA National Championship in 2002 and in 2005.

• Head coach Garrett Smith has been named the WCC Coach of the Year five times.

I SEE A PATTERN DEVELOPING

• Amanda Frisbie nabbed her second West Coast Conference Player of the Week award of the season after she scored twice during Portland’s 3-2 win at USC on Sept. 16.

• The junior forward from McKinney, Texas, was named the league’s co-player of the week (Sept. 4) after a four-goal performance against Fresno State.

• Ellen Parker, who scored the game-winner in Portland’s 1-0 win over No. 4 North Carolina on Friday, Aug. 17, was named the first WCC Player of the Week (Aug. 20) for the 2012 season.

THAT’S A LOT OF GOALS

• During Portland’s 5-0 win over Fresno State on Aug. 31, junior forward Amanda Frisbie became the 16th player in program history to score four goals in one game.

• The last to accomplish the feat was Danielle Foxhoven against USF on Oct. 25, 2009.

• The five-goal margin of victory was the largest for the Pilots since a 9-0 win over UT-San Antonio in the opening round of the 2010 playoffs, a game in which Frisbie recorded her first career hat trick as a freshman.

THAT TOO IS A LOT OF GOALS

• Junior forward Kaila Cameli has scored the last three goals for Portland, dating back to the win over Seattle on Sept. 23.

• Cameli scored twice against the Redhawks during the 3-0 win, and she scored UP’s lone goal against Denver on Sunday.

• Cameli has six goals this season, which is tied with Amanda Frisbie for the team high.

CRUNCHING THE NUMBERS

• Cameli and Frisbie are tied for second in the conference with their six goals, and Frisbie ranks third in the WCC with 15 points; Ellen Parker ranks second in the conference with an average of 0.67 assists per game.

• As a team, the Pilots rank first in per game attendance (3,681), are second in fewest goals allowed (7), goals against average (0.76), shutouts (5) and assists per game (1.67) and are third in points (53), goals (19), goals per game (2.11) and assists (15).

THE PLACE TO BE

• A capacity crowd of 4,932 fans packed into Merlo Field on Sept. 7 for Portland’s game against Notre Dame, making it the second sellout crowd this season for the Pilots at home.

• 4,912 fans were on hand to watch the Pilots blank Oregon 2-0 on Aug. 24.

• Portland is averaging 3,681 fans through six home games at Merlo Field, which has a capacity of 4,892.

SPEAKING OF THE COUNTRY’S #1 FANS...

• The Portland Pilots women’s soccer team led the nation in attendance for the seventh straight year after averaging 3,110 fans per game at Merlo Field in 2011.

• UP has topped the 30,000-fan plateau for seven straight years as well, and Portland was the only school in the country to average more than 3,000 fans per game in 2011.

• UP owns the NCAA record for attendance in a season when 47,082 fans attended Portland women’s soccer games in 2008.

• The Pilots have topped the 40,000-fan mark three times (2008-10) and have reached that figure four times overall, which is the most in the country.

BUSY “OFF” SEASON

• Junior forward Micaela Capelle kept busy during the off-season as she helped the US U-20 Women’s National Team claim the CONCACAF Championship in Panama last winter, which sent the team to the FIFA U-20 World Cup.

• She scored a goal and registered an assist during a win over host Panama.

WELCOME BACK

• Back for Portland this season is former all-league selection and redshirt-junior defender Kendall Johnson, who missed all of the 2011 season due to an injury.

• Johnson was named the WCC co-Freshman of the Year in 2010, while also landing on the Soccer America All-Freshman First Team.

• The Portland native entered 2012 with five career goals and six assists, and she has one goal, a game-winner, and an assist this fall.

LONDON CALLING

• The 2012 London Summer Olympics were a historic event for the University of

Portland as alums Megan Rapinoe, Christine Sinclair and Sophie Schmidt each left London with some new hardware.

• Rapinoe and the US took gold, while Schmidt, Sinclair and Team Canada claimed the bronze for Canada’s first Olympic medal in women’s soccer.

• When all was said and done, the University of Portland (3) claimed more medals than Greece (2), and UP would have finished ahead of 31 countries in the final medal tally.

HAPPY 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY!

• In 2002, under the guidance of legendary coach Clive Charles, the University of Portland won its first NCAA Women’s Soccer National Championship.

• The Pilots, featuring then-sophomore Christine Sinclair, capped a cinderella season by defeating conference foe Santa Clara 2-1 in the national title game in double overtime.

• UP will be celebrating the 10-year anniversary of its first national title with a reunion during the Pilots’ game against San Diego State at Merlo Field on Oct. 7.

THE BLOGGERS

• The women’s soccer blog is back by popular demand, and this year it’s Kendall Johnson who has taking on blogging duties for the Pilots; be sure to bookmark PortlandPilots.com/KendallBlog to follow Kendall and the Pilots all season long!

• UP features two bloggers this season, as espnW has tapped Micaela Capelle for a season-long blog as well; just visit espnW.com to check out Micaela’s thoughts.

Result was a bit disappointing, but we still only have two losses. I can't help thinking we squandered some chances, and we looked a lot stronger early.

CSUN used more players than we have. That has to wear on you if you don't get a cushion early.

We need to tightn up. Next week will be a big test SDSU is having a very good season.

Missing Ellen Parker.
Rebecca Kurle played, which was a good thing.
Taylor got hurt late as did Micaela. Hopefully both are OK.
4-3-3 did not look good to me.
Prefer the 4-4-2, although they are struggling to find the person to play the attacking mid role in Ellen's absence.
Team was off key slightly; more passes went astray than we'd normally see.

Lorielle had a great, great game.

What was the attendance? Work has been a bear lately and I have been so bad about getting to matches this year. Need a soccer fix....

The result was indeed disappointing, I'm sure more so for the team than any of us. They had to be thrilled to have almost the whole team ready to play. It is hard to fathom all the errant passes. It will be something they work on this week practice and we (and the team) see an improvement the first Sunday in October.

Just an aside, the officiating was very uneven for both teams. The officials overlooked quite a few obvious fouls. It led to injuries on both sides.

Cal State Northridge (3-3-4) vs. Portland (6-2-2)

Date: Sep 27, 2012 Attendance: 2017

Weather: Pleasant, mild

Goals by period 1 2 OT O2 Tot

-------------------------------------

Cal State Northridge 0 1 0 0 - 1

Portland............ 0 1 0 0 - 1

SCORING SUMMARY:

1. 66:32 POR CAPELLE, Micaela (4) (FRISBIE, Amanda) - 10yd finish to lower right

2. 68:57 CSUN OWN GOAL (unassisted) - Knocked in by UP's #12

Shots: Cal State Northridge 13, Portland 15

Saves: Cal State Northridge 3 (Cynthia Jacobo 3), Portland 4 (DEES,

Erin 4)

Hmm, I guess I saw the game a little differently. Some nice individual efforts, but on the whole, I feel the team lacked the fitness to push it forward and flood the box. UP could have overwhelmed CSUN, but never mounted a strong or cohesive attack.

Compared to the first couple of games, when the team had more bounce and resilience, it is now obvious to me that UP is not as strong or physical as it needs to be to avoid the injuries and fatigue that will go with a season that could only have a month to run, but still has the potential for TWO months.

Yes, we "only" have two losses...but this was another that felt like a loss.

Ten days off from competition has come at the right time...I still believe UP's chances against the WCC opponents is good....if they can stay fit.

It looked to me as though the team lost patience. For the first 30 minutes or so, they possessed the ball effectively and passed well. CSUN sat back--much as opponents did last year (and the year before)--and did not allow any penetration or threats. The Pilots had zero shots in the first 20 minutes or so, as they were never able to find a slicing run through the defense or make the one-on-one move to beat the first opponent and pull the defense out of shape.

After that, it was a shambles: long balls, misdirected passes, and just simply impatience to get the ball closer to the goal and hope. It didn't work. The one goal we scored came when Amanda beat one or two opponents on the wing and brought the ball into the box, pulling the defender away from Micaela, who was able to score a relatively easy finish.

Earlier in the season, this team used the strengths of individuals effectively in a team effort. There hasn't been as much of this the last two matches. Opponents are doubling the wing players and preventing the ball from getting into dangerous positions.

I agree that this is a nice time for a break, to adjust tactics to counter the more effective defenses (and offenses) that teams are throwing at us.

Highlights

Gotta love Taylor's play while sitting on the ground with a cramp.

This game left many fans in section B talking about being spoiled by the stellar teams and players we have seen over the years. A tie with Notre Dame is one thing, but with CSN it's another. First half was some of the least exciting play in a long time. So it goes. A gorgeous fall night with a fiery sky was the better memory.

Hmm...

None of those stellar teams ever beat UNC, either. Did any fans in section B mention that?

purple haze wrote:This game left many fans in section B talking about being spoiled by the stellar teams and players we have seen over the years. A tie with Notre Dame is one thing, but with CSN it's another. First half was some of the least exciting play in a long time. So it goes. A gorgeous fall night with a fiery sky was the better memory.

Hmm, I'm thinking Section B must be where they pay for the higher priced seats, but have the shorter memories.

But yes, the smoke from the various fires made for a beautiful sunset.

purple haze wrote:This game left many fans in section B talking about being spoiled by the stellar teams and players we have seen over the years. A tie with Notre Dame is one thing, but with CSN it's another. First half was some of the least exciting play in a long time. So it goes. A gorgeous fall night with a fiery sky was the better memory.

You have to go through games like Crystal Palace Baltimore or Cal St. Northridge to fully appreciate things like the Sunflower Goal or the win over UNC. It's an investment.

I don't know about the rest of you, but I came into the season not knowing what to expect from this team. I believe before the season started the league coaches projected them to finish 4th in the league. That might happen, but I've been pleasantly surprised with the play so far and don't think that will be where they end up at season's end. PPT is exactly right, it's an investment and I appreciate the upward trend even with an occasional dip now and then.

Hey, Section B is where I sit and so do the player families, and I didn't hear any reminiscing. I think this team has been as fun to watch as ever, for their grit and willingness to spend every ounce of energy they have. They remind me of some of the no superstar teams that were really fun to watch.

Might I remind you all that the '02 Championship team was 19-4-3 at the end of the season? You never know.

RipCityPilot wrote:Might I remind you all that the '02 Championship team was 19-4-3 at the end of the season? You never know.

I was there. I saw them lose to Pepperdine at home. The Waves actually turned out to be a decent side that year and got a national seed, but still. Pepperdine. You never know how things will turn out.

RipCityPilot wrote:Might I remind you all that the '02 Championship team was 19-4-3 at the end of the season? You never know.

Yeah, they lost to BYU and Utah the first two games of the season, and tied UNC

The 2001 team that went to the semifinal round lost to UCLA and UNC to open and close the season. In the middle of it, they lost to Saint Mary's.

The "you never know" Pepperdine beat Boston College today 1-0. The rest of the nation is getting a good taste of West Coast soccer this year.

Speaking of which ...

If you follow the national soccer blogs, they all talk about how dominant the Atlantic Coast Conference is. Well, the ACC is the conference with the highest average Adjusted RPI -- as of last Sunday's games they were at 0.6280 as compared to the Pac 12 at #2 with 0.6139, for a difference of 0.0141.

What they don't talk about is the overall national dominance of the West regional playing pool as compared to the Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, and Middle pools. The West region's average ARPI as of last Sunday's games was 0.5292 as compared to the Southeast at #2 with 0.5121, for a difference of 0.0171.

Given the numbers of teams in the regional playing pools, which range from 54 in the Southwest to 91 in the Northeast, the extent of the West region's ARPI superiority over the other regions is shockingly large. DI fans elsewhere can't bring themselves to admit it, but DI women's soccer in the West, on average, is far superior to anywhere else.