2017 Season

I was glad to see Coffey return and answer my question. He's an important cog in the middle of the park and (I think) had a lot to do with the improvement on Friday.

Also, Spencer Myers returned at left back. He can do a lot of things at both ends and improves the team a lot when he is in.

Those two guys do seem to make a difference.

It’ll be interesting to see which UP team shows up tonight.

When they are good, they are very, very good.

But when they are bad...

Coffey scores!

1-0 UP at the half....the game is on your WatchESPN app.

Overtime has not been our friend this season, but losing in OT to Virginia at their own field is nothing to be upset about. I’m proud of their effort. They looked competitive. I feel a lot better about their chances in conference play suddenly.

Everyone still needs to show up for that Pacific game. It will be a big one!

Pilots GK Paul Christensen wrote:"Pacific is our National Championship game...."

....in some ways that is true, because unless UP is able to beat the preseason favorite Tigers team that handed UP its only WCC loss last season (1-0), there may be no postseason for the Pilots.

I've heard it said that with a preseason record of "only" 5-5 they are going to have to win the WCC Championship to continue playing, but I think we should be thinking more positively than that.  

However, if they should falter, their current RPI of 41 with the nation's 8th most difficult strength of schedule  (UOP is 26/117 and USD is 36/27) could still give them a chance.  

Last year's loss to UOP was in Stockton....this year the team is counting on the Merlo Field advantage.

Another huge win for the men last night! If WCC predictions go to plan, this puts us in the driver seat. It also has to give us some confidence for the remainder of the schedule. As long as we stay focused and keep up the current form we look good.

In response to DD’s post, I think you were spot on. The wins have been great when we get them. All except one loss was by a 1-goal margin. Three of those losses were in OT. It hurts the resume, of course, but they don’t look like terrible losses to me. Just unfortunate.

Portland soccer has really been making me happy lately for the most part (Pilot men, Thorns, Timbers).

The Pilots win was a group effort that showed how the team has transitioned from the long pass and power game to finesse and control....and it was fun to watch.  Sure, the usual stars scored the goals, but everyone impacted and influenced the flow of the game...it could not have been drawn up or played any better against the #18 Tigers, one of the toughest defenses in the WCC.

Coach Nick Carlin-Voigt wrote:"It was a big statement for us.  I thought it was a result we deserved, so I'm really proud of the team."

The Pilots don't return home for 3 weeks, which means there are some tough games ahead for the team that now has an RPI of 27 with the 5th toughest schedule.  UP's next opponent, USD, will play its first four WCC games at home, including LMU today, and at the moment they are ranked closely behind the Pilots with an RPI of 37.

I was unable to make the game last night so I don't really have a leg to stand on when making this observation, but in watching the highlights I must say that I am quite disappointed in the poor showing from the Drum Squad. This was a HUGE game, the weather was fine, and Fall Break isn't until next week... what gives?

I have been to a handful of games this year, and the Drum Squad has let me down every time. I don't say this to throw shade... I am just genuinely curious about what's up. Because usually there's at least a solid Drum Squad presence even if there aren't a lot of students.

For reference: https://twitter.com/PortlandPilots/status/916857591736672261

I can hear some drums, which is great, but just by the visual it's pretty clear we're talking a small number of guys.

I echo that sentiment about the student section. Before it was a dorm retreat. But, that does mean Christie and Padre can’t show up.

SouthCarolinaPilot wrote:I echo that sentiment about the student section. Before it was a dorm retreat. But, that does mean Christie and Padre can’t show up.

For sure. I am always hesitant to criticize the Drum Squad because they usually do at least have a few guys there compared to other dorms, but sheesh... something seems off this year.

Also, I should add that it wasn't because they all showed up at the women's game on Friday night and didn't have it in them to do two nights in a row:

https://twitter.com/PortlandPilots/status/916510441123147776

I honestly can't remember a time when we had two weekend-night home games against big opponents and had such a poor Drum Squad showing.

I'd much rather discuss the great TEAM energy on the field last evening than the lack of collective energy in the stands, but it was obvious to this observer who showed up an hour early to take in the "buzz" of the crowd, that the only buzz heard was that of the drone that almost continually hovered over the parking lot transmitting video for the TV production.

From the very beginning we were asking, "where is everyone?"  This was considered to be the game of the year, so far, so it was surprising to see so few fans were on either side of the pitch.

In contrast, Friday night's women's game against SCU had a very large turnout outside the student section, probably in part because of the one-time intense rivalry between the two schools, and in big part because of the player's personal outreach and marketing for the kickoff of Breast Cancer Awareness month.
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DoubleDipper wrote:I'd much rather discuss the great TEAM energy on the field last evening than the lack of collective energy in the stands...

Indeed!

It was a terrific win for the men, and what I hope is a harbinger for a great conference season. It seems like things have turned after a bit of a bumpy start... I was certainly impressed by their dominant win against #9 Western Michigan, they gave #4 Virginia a heck of a game on the road, and now we dominated #19 Pacific. I think they are primed to go on a great run through the WCC and hopefully into the NCAA tournament.

I worry that this year’s edition is 1-3 on the road including looses just before whe W. mich game  to current rpi teams holding down the 64 and 84 spots. San Diego is currently 41 in the Rpi.

You might find solace that their best win  is ranked 84, except that it  is UCSB, who we lost to on the road.

Still, we jumped about 8 points to 29 at the end of the weekend, which is in the at-large región for tournament selection.

And Pacific dropped precipitously to number 37.

Somebody on BS pointed out that if you go by RPI, 19 of the 24 at large spots will go to ACC or B1G conference teams.

That leaves 5 slots for the other 19 conferences.

Friday the 13th, Game Day!  

It was good to take on preseason favorite UOP at home, but now it’s on the road to USD (6-3-1) where the Pilots have not fared too well in previous meetings (6-11-2).

USD is coming off a 2-0 shutout of LMU and has an RPI of 37 as of this morning (UP is 32), and have not allowed a goal since the middle of September while posting a WCC best 5 shutouts on the season.

The Pilots are still not at full strength due to injuries, but if the UOP game was any indication, the TEAM is really coming together at just the right time of the season….it should be a good game.

DoubleDipper wrote:
The Pilots are still not at full strength due to injuries, but if the UOP game was any indication, the TEAM is really coming together at just the right time of the season….it should be a good game.

I wasn't able to get to games last week or weekend. Who is out injured at this point?

SoreKnees wrote:I wasn't able to get to games last week or weekend. Who is out injured at this point?

Don't have many specifics, it was just an in-passing conversation with Coach Carlin-Voight that he mentioned a few of the guys were pretty "nicked up."

I do know Matthew Coffey is still not 100% due to his knee, impressive freshman mid-fielder Luke Defreitas-Hansen is out with a knee, and freshman defender Spencer Myers left the UOP game with some bruises with about 20 minutes to go, and that made for quite a scramble for the Pilots for the rest of the game.

Need to have both Coffey and Myers at full strength against USD, IMO.

It's Friday the 13th, and against the run of play the Toreros tie it and the game is in overtime!!  

The Pilots have been down to 10 men since Jason Romero went out with a red card in the 77th minute.

UP has had their chances, but the USD GK is good!

Can the Pilots break their overtime jinx on Friday the 13th? We'll see...

1-1 final. Given that we were down a man for the last 30+ minutes of the game, I am content with leaving San Diego with a tie.

Friggatriskaidekaphobia.....

Don't believe it?  In pointy-ended football this evening Syracuse upset defending National Champion #2 Clemson and Cal upset #8 WSU!

Stonehouse wrote:1-1 final. Given that we were down a man for the last 30+ minutes of the game, I am content with leaving San Diego with a tie.

I’m not.

Up still can’t win on the road against lower ranked teams, and have once again demonstrated they get preoccupied with physical,play. They let teams that want to bump them take them out of their style. Romero’s response did nothing but hurt the team.

Geezaldinho wrote:Up still can’t win on the road against lower ranked teams, and have once again demonstrated they get preoccupied with physical,play. They let teams that want to bump them take them out of their style. Romero’s response did nothing but hurt the team.

Some of my fellow students and I have to agree with Geezaldinho.  After watching UP play so well controlling the ball with finesse against UOP last week, on Friday night we watched as USD's physical play took UP out of its game and caused a great deal of frustration amongst the players....despite UP controlling much of the game.

The UP website read, "Short-Handed Pilots earn 1-1 draw at San Diego.  A better headline would have read, "UP frustrations allow USD to overcome the Pilots."

Yes, USD's GK is very good, but this was one that got away because UP let USD dictate the manner of play, IOO.

A bunch of us are volunteering in Mexico during Fall Break, so we'll plan on watching the Pilots at LMU next Saturday night before heading back to Portland.....there should be a good-sized group of Pilots fans at the game.

BTW, all soccer players must really enjoy playing on Merlo's grass pitch, Torero Stadium is okay, but the playing surface seems very uneven to me.

Oh I certainly wanted a win... what I meant was, given the situation of being tied 1-1 and then getting a red card, I was content with the tie.

Clearly, winning on the road is something this team will need to do if they want to make it to the postseason. And other teams aren't stupid... I'm sure we can expect a lot more physical play the rest of the way, especially against teams that maybe aren't as skilled as we are.

The Pilots currently are #26 in the RPI rankings.  Western Michigan is #11.  I don't know anything about how the Men's Soccer Committee makes decisions, but if it's like the Women's Soccer Committee, the Western Michigan win will be huge, from an at large selection perspective, if the Pilots at least stay in the area of their current ranking.  Essentially, what the Committee will see is that the Pilots have demonstrated they're a sweet 16, and possibly an elite 8, team.