BYU Tonight

As the weather turns, it looks like a night for fleece and rain gear. The Pilots host BYU in a game that marks the return of former Pilot Cloee Colohan. BYU has a 12-1-1 record, has lost only to Utah, and tied Santa Clara 0-0. This looks like another strong foe accustomed to winning at home and on the road. I hope Merlo Field will be rocking.

It was an excellent college soccer experience tonight….and it looked as if about 4,999 other soccer fans agreed.

BYU is good. Despite losing 2-1, UP played with fight and inspiration, probably the best they’ve played since the Seattle U. game. UP had its chances, but just couldn’t finish except for one wonderful exception.

There were three excellent goals on the evening, but the ridiculous strike from Kendall may have been the best goal of the season for the Pilots. I believe it was only her second of the year, so maybe she’ll take some confidence from that goal forward against USD on Friday night.

USD is now 3-0 in WCC play (UP’s 0-1-1), so if the ladies are going to make any run it better start in six days on national TV…..ESPNU at 8 p.m.

Strong performance by the Pilots. They are playing with heart. Two games at home against ranked opponents where they've lost by one goal. Close but ....

One thing I've never seen before was Garrett ragging on the officials. The referee tonight was poor.

One (still) bitter fan's comment on OregonLive.com:

Justice for the Pilots being picked for the NCAA tournament last year instead of BYU. Going to take a miracle or favortism to make it this year."

BYU didn't have the RPI last year. UP did. UP's RPI right now is in the high 20's so we are still in the running for a tournament slot, but we have to start winning some games.

I was pleased to see we matched up fine with BYU, one of the best teams in the country this year, but we have to finish, we had several good chances without the tally.

USD on Friday would be a good way to get on that path on National Tv. I hope Lorielle is OK, she went down as the final whistle blew.

RipCityPilot wrote:One (still) bitter fan's comment on OregonLive.com:

Justice for the Pilots being picked for the NCAA tournament last year instead of BYU. Going to take a miracle or favortism to make it this year."

As Geezer said, the actual numbers indicate otherwise. The Pilots, at #29 as of October 13 according to All White Kit, are in much better RPI shape this year.

As for the game I think they held their own against a very good side for most of the night, but that's how soccer is sometimes. I think they're just this close to getting it back together.

A healthy team would be incredibly helpful, too.

Oh, I forgot. This ref also did the Northridge game, and was the official who rewarded the Gonzaga flopping salmon act in the men's game here a couple weeks ago.

Playing two top teams this close without Micaela Capelle and Ellen Parker is commendable. Truly valiant efforts by Emily Sipple and Noelle LaPrevotte but not quite the same.

They played well against a top tier team. The last 20 minutes or so they dominated the game. That is a good indication of their fitness and determination. They have had the same basic lineup for a couple of games now and seem to be getting more comfortable with each other and their positions. It bodes well for the rest of the season.

This was a heck of a game, and the only downside was the final result. Two well-matched teams went at it from start to finish. The action was fierce, the tackles hard, the passing on target for both teams. The Pilots really turned up the heat as the game wore on. Kendall's goal was one of the all-time best; it shows how much she adds to the attack when she plays at midfield. Emily Sipple showed a ton of heart -- her best effort that I've seen.

Garrett was outright shouting, "That was a foul!" to the ref at one point. He was not pleased. The calls had to be bad to get him riled up like that -- so unlike his usual calm demeanor.

Portland's quality of play tonight was excellent. That bodes well, although the attacking presence of Michaela and Ellen is sorely missed.

The record shows 3 losses and 1 tie in the past 4 home games, and 9 goals against in that span. The competition has been fierce, and strong WCC foes await. There's room for growth and improvement with 3 home games to go in the regular season.

It was a quality game, except for the officiating. I have never seen Garrett as boisterous as he was in this game! We sorely miss Micaela & Ellen, that's for sure, but even so this game was within reach.

It's good to see the freshman and the team overall playing more physical, which is good because they have not done well in the past against physical teams.

Pia Sundhage was at the game. I wonder why.

Did anyone else notice Cloee Colohan commenting to her teammates on each UP player as they were announced?

Didnt see Pia. Saw Cloee's commentary and it really wasn't becoming. She should realize that if Portland wanted to be the least little bit petty, she wouldn't be playing this year.

A big loss in some respects...no big loss in others. Sarah and Lorielle have it covered. And Cruz may have paid her back for the intro comments...on accident of course.

They posted the WCC weekly top play highlights on wccsports.com... We were, unfortunately, on the wrong end of every highlight.

I wasn't able to attend the match. I so wanted to see Cloee again. Disappointed I missed it...sure sounded like an epic battle! I'm so eager to see the video highlights.

Are we sure though that Cloee was dissing her ex-teammates? Really?

It doesn't make sense to me that her "commentary" was construed as negative. Did someone actually hear what she was telling her teammates? I thought she's always been a classy player. Her sportmanship on the pitch has been unquestionable, hasn't it? I mean, she had a good enough reputation with the U-18s to earn the captain's band. And, she exhibited the same in her tenure one of the Pilot captains.

I was not there...so I guess the proof is in the pudding? Did she interact with the Pilots and Garrett after the match? Was she friendly with them?

GO PILOTS!!!

One of my favorites as well (I bought her jersey in last year's auction) and I agree with both the classy player and unquestionable sportsmanship descriptions. What I saw (and continued to watch after initially noticing it) looked like Jr. High all over again. Plus, if it were positive player analysis, it would occur in pre-match planning sessions with the coaches and not as the opponents were introduced...my take.