2022 Schedule

Well deserved...

Norris Named WCC Player of the Week

https://portlandpilots.com/news/2022/8/29/womens-soccer-norris-name-wcc-player-of-the-week.aspx

This week’s coaches rankings are out, and UP got noticed by somebody. We are in the “receiving votes” category, or in out case, receiving vote.

https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/rankings/college-rankings/ncaa-di-women/


I’m trying to think of the last time UP was listed on that site . It’s a start.

UP knocked off Nebraska 2-0 to remain unbeaten.
The scores were by Sophia Mattice (20th) and Kayla Adams (54th).
It’s the fourth shutout in a row and they haven’t been scored on in  384 minutes.

UP is now 8-1-1 against the Huskers. uP beat them in the last meeting in the second round of the tournament 3-2, also on the road.

Unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to see the game unless you were willing to fork over $50.

Geezaldinho wrote:UP knocked off Nebraska 2-0 to remain unbeaten.
The scores were by Sophia Mattice (20th) and Kayla Adams (54th).
It’s the fourth shutout in a row and they haven’t been scored on in  384 minutes.
Unfortunately, we didn’t get a chance to see the game unless you were willing to fork over $50.

The Team option, selecting Nebraska, actually would have given you a month for 9.99.

A friend who paid the 9.99 reports that the score easily could have been more than 2-0.

With two results so far this year -- tie away v Washington State and win away v Nebraska, I am seeing the Pilots having broken through a barrier. (This is not my subjective view, but is based on statistical trends -- the ladies have jumped the trend line.) This being Frenchie’s first year with her own team and with the play I am seeing, I am happier about the Pilots than I have been in many years.

Damn. I would have forked over ten bucks.

Nebraska’s highlights.

The mattice goal was off a free kick from at least 30 yards and on the ground through a crowd.
Kayla’s goal was a nice strike from the top of the penalty box.

Hats off to the Pilots, especially to GK Bre Norris and F Kayla Adams, for their relentless pressure on Hawaii that ultimately resulted in the game winner by F Cally Togiai assisted by MF Selma Licina.

It was a game the Pilots deserved to win, but it wasn't until the 87th minute that it was decided.

Yes. A game of two halves. The Pilots were very flat in the first, leaving passes short, not moving off the ball, and waiting for passes to come to them rather than going to meet them.

Whatever Michelle said at HT certainly worked. They were a different side in the second half and put almost continuous pressure in the attacking end. One-way traffic. It would have been a shock for them not to score and wouldn't have been surprising to see 3 or 4 go in. I think that Hawai'i also tired in the second half as they seemed unable to keep up the pace. Their left winger #10 tortured the Pilots back line with pace in the first half, but our #11 Katana Norman came on and was brilliant, outpacing their winger defensively and creating effectively in attack. (#10 was also never the same after going down with an injury part way through the second half.)

We should note that from the corporate offices of the WCC comes yet more recognition of Bre Norris' efforts, defensive player of the week now twice in a row, and by implication plaudits for the defenders in front of her. Our defense was superb in that dominating second half against Hawaii as noted. Bre had an easier time to earn the shutout in this one.

https://portlandpilots.com/news/2022/9/5/womens-soccer-bre-norris-wins-wcc-player-of-the-week-for-second-time.aspx

Part of what made the difference is the pilots played most of the first half in a 3 back formation that made it hard to cover the speed on the wing.
They switched to a 4 back line in the second half which allowed Norman to concentrate on their #10 and a mid to cover their other speedy player.

The Pilots have played several games now on less than a full rest cycle and Hawaii had a full week’s rest before this game so I was expecting we would be the ones with tired legs in the second half, but it seems we now have the players that can make a difference all the way down the roster.
Kudos to Frenchie for having them ready.

Geezaldinho wrote:This week’s coaches rankings are out, and UP got noticed by somebody. We are in the “receiving votes” category, or in out case, receiving vote.

https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/rankings/college-rankings/ncaa-di-women/

I’m trying to think of the last time UP was listed on that site . It’s a start.

The September 6th poll has the Pilots receiving 5 votes...more progress in that regard.

https://unitedsoccercoaches.org/rankings/college-rankings/ncaa-di-women/

"Disappointing win" last night, or is that an oxymoron? The team really didn't look sharp at all. The whole game last night was much like the first half against Hawai'i (before they pulled it together in the second half). They are lucky that a Seattle defender played a perfect "assist" to our best finisher who took full advantage.

One question for insiders who might know: In both of the last two matches the Pilots have seemed to leave their passes short, hitting the ball with little pace and allowing to dart in and intercept. It's as though they are accustomed to playing on a lightning-fast artificial surface and struggle to adapt to longish, wet grass. I've seen it go the other direction, where a team that plays and practices on grass gets onto artificial "turf" and blasts passes too hard for teammates to reach or handle. I don't know what their practice field is like now. Is this explanation plausible? (If so, it seems fixable.)

I agree they didn’t look sharp.

One thing to consider is this was the third game on short rest, with 2 and 3  rest days between games and a travel day from Nebraska to boot, which could explain the sluggishness.
Next they play a ranked UW on two days rest and UW hasn’t played a game since they played Seattle Sept 4. This might be the most challenging game so far on several levels- possibly one of the two or three toughest games.

Still, they did earn another shutout, which I think is the best start in that regard since the 2009-20010 seasons. They all count.

Today's opponent: #24 Washington.

Not one to delve deep into the stats, I couldn't help but notice the Huskies (5-0-1) have outscored their opposition 19-2 this season.

Fresno St. 3-0
Air Force 5-0
@ LMU 0-0
@ Long Beach St. 5-1
Texas Tech 1-0
Seattle U. 5-1

It could be a big test for Bre and her back line...not to mention the difficulty the Pilots could have finding the back of the net.

I wasn't able to go to the match today because our marimba band was playing, but I'd love to see a report. Of course, the Pilots' Web site has zero information that isn't in the box score. I know that Norris got sent off and that they scored the first goal, but pretty much nothing else.

What happened? A few details from someone would be most welcome, please!

SoreKnees wrote:I wasn't able to go to the match today because our marimba band was playing, but I'd love to see a report. Of course, the Pilots' Web site has zero information that isn't in the box score. I know that Norris got sent off and that they scored the first goal, but pretty much nothing else.

What happened? A few details from someone would be most welcome, please!

The red card seemed harsh and double jeopardy coming against the GK, but more devastating to most of us was the injury to Kayla Adams as she planted her foot to kick what could have been the wide-open game winner but instead, she badly injured her foot/ankle without getting the kick off and was on the ground for some time before being helped off the pitch.

UP's goal started with a set piece, and UW's came off a UW handball that ricocheted to a teammate who booted it into the net...Even from the Pilot Club enclosure, the handball was obvious.


Bre will miss the UO game next week due to her red card and the extent of Kayla's injury is unknown, but it did not look good.

I wanted to wait until I saw the video to comment.
You can watch it here: https://wccsports.com/watch/?id=6312186079112

I was concerned about the disparity in rest as I was with the men’s game, and it looked like the concern was justified. At least we won’t see the Ducks until next weekend.

The UP goal was off a cleared corner that was picked up by Yankel who chipped a ball to Wilson who headed it to Sawan  who headed it in. Great goal.

The red card was questionable, especially when compared to what happened on the UW goal. Norris came out just outside the box and was about to strike the ball when the UW player got it first and hit the ball point blank into Norris’ hand, which I think was in a natural running position. Foul, sure. Yellow? Probably. Red seems questionable.

But if you call that a cardable  foul, it seems the UW goal was a similar situation. The ball was struck off a UW player’s extended arm and bounced to another husky who scored. No call.

The Kayla Adams injury didn’t look good. She was looking at a very dangerous strike and her ankle just gave way in a non contact injury. Maybe she twisted it. It’s been a bit tender all season.

Abby Pressnell came in for a Norris and did a pretty good job, but her goal kick game needs work. It reminded me of the Cheryl Loveless days.  The Pilots are going to have to adjust better to a keeper who doesn’t get it to midfield, maybe have a pass in the box to Shay Adams or Camille Ashe to get the ball upfield.

The man down portion of the game was mostly clearing and countering, but they did get some chances besides the Adams one. Frenchie platooned mids in and out to keep people fresh, and by the end of the game there wasn’t a lot of difference in energy levels between the teams, despite the huskies going into the game with four more days rest.
For as dangerous as the huskies are reputed to be, they seemed to settle for the 25-30 yd shots for the most part and didn’t take them very well, especially when the teams were even. The UP back line held up pretty well.

It went from what looked like a win to eeking out a tie pretty quickly after the 50th minute, but we got a result.

Other concerns beside K. Adams probably not being available for a wh ile is that Brooke Miller was in a knee brace and might not come back for a while. (  probably fourth hand info) we could use her quickness.
. What seems like a loss wasn’t, and showed resilience in a chaotic half. We are still undefeated.

And while it is still very early to count the RPI for anything seriously, our opponent results and the tie elevated our RPI from 28 to 13 today. The Huskies went from 24 to 36 with not all results in. The #13 is the highest RPI in the WCC, which is something. BYU lost yesterday and Pepperdine still hasn’t beaten a team with a winning record.

At least we aren’t SCU. They lost to Cal and are looking down the barrel at Stanford next week.

On to the Ducks. Nobody said the season would be a cakewalk. The ducks beat Hofstra today, which elevates their record to .500

One other comment on the game.

After getting rousted from an empty student section a few games ago in an attempt to get out of the sun, I was surrounded today by Husky fans  in my season ticket stadium seats by  opponent  fans who didn’t pay for those seats. I know this  because I know some fans who own those tickets.
When I came back to my seat after the half, two husky err…lady dawgs( you know)  were in my seats.
For the record, they shoo people out of the center of the general admissions  seating in their stadium if you are wearing opponent gang colors.



I hope I don’t have to put up with this for the Duck game.

If they aren’t going to check, I’ll just buy bleacher seats next year and sit where I want, as long as it isn’t the student section.

[/RANT]

Thanks so much for the detailed writeup! Exactly what I had hoped!

I doubt we'll ever get VAR at the collegiate level because of the cost, but it sounds like it would have been appropriate yesterday. I don't recognize the name of the referee.

I, too, get annoyed when the away fans pile into Section D. Does anyone have connections to the athletic department to express our annoyance? They used to check tickets at the entry to the central sections. It seems like there should be come cheap student labor available to do such duties. Maybe a couple of large, intimidating men's basketball players could do this as part of their scholarship?

Anyway, thanks again for the nice game reports.

SoreKnees wrote: I don't recognize the name of the referee.

The way the she was always yelling at players and telling them, "let's go, let's go, move it," she likely reminded some fans of their ex-wife.

Colby Wilson got this week’s defensive POW award after two 90 minute stints against Seattle and UW which includes a shutout in the first game and an assist on Nedya’s goal against the huskies.

https://wccsports.com/news/2022/9/12/athlete-awards-lunsford-and-wilson-tabbed-wcc-womens-soccer-players-of-the-week.aspx

This marks the third week in a row a UP player got the defensive award.

This week’s coaches poll is out. Pepperdine is tied for ninth, BYU has dropped to 25th with two losses and two ties, and UP rose to fourth in the RV category with 11 votes. That might rise when the first RPI is published. Chris Henderson currently has UP’s RPI at 14.

Colby Wilson made college Soccer News’ team of the week

CSN wrote: Colby Wilson – Senior – Defender – Portland – Wilson is among the reasons why Portland has only allowed a total of three goals in eight games to date. This week she was part of a solid bend but don’t break Portland defense that shutout Seattle 1-0 and tied Washington 1-1. Wilson also contributed an assist on teammate Nedya Sawan’s goal in the contest with Washington. The Pilots will put their undefeated 5-0-3 record on the line when they host Oregon on Friday.

https://collegesoccernews.com/college-soccer-news-womens-national-team-of-the-week-week-ending-september-11-2022/

Geezaldinho wrote:One other comment on the game.

After getting rousted from an empty student section a few games ago in an attempt to get out of the sun, I was surrounded today by Husky fans  in my season ticket stadium seats by  opponent  fans who didn’t pay for those seats. I know this  because I know some fans who own those tickets.
When I came back to my seat after the half, two husky err…lady dawgs( you know)  were in my seats.
For the record, they shoo people out of the center of the general admissions  seating in their stadium if you are wearing opponent gang colors.

I hope I don’t have to put up with this for the Duck game.

If they aren’t going to check, I’ll just buy bleacher seats next year and sit where I want, as long as it isn’t the student section.

Today the UP Ticket Office wrote:I hope everyone is excited for tonight’s big women’s soccer game vs. Oregon tonight at 7pm!

It has been brought to our attention by some of you that you have been having trouble with people sitting in your reserved seats. Our department wants to thank you for your support by being a season ticket holder and sitting in reserved seating. You deserve to be able to attend the game and not worry about people sitting in your seats.

We are going to make it a point of emphasis for our Coast 2 Coast ushers to check tickets more diligently as well as create some signage reminding other fans that sections B through E are reserved seating and you must sit in the seat that is on your ticket.

If you see someone sitting in your seat, please contact a Coast 2 Coast usher and have them check the other people’s tickets.

Thanks again for your support and Go Pilots!

The Pilots will have an interesting and potentially challenging game this coming Saturday at 7:00 pm when they host Loyola Marymount at Merlo Field.

LMU, very quietly, is one of the remaining undefeated teams with a record of 2 wins, 0 losses, and 5 ties (including a 0-0 tie against Washington).  They appear to have trouble scoring, as they have scored only 4 goals in total.  But, they appear to be very good at defending, as they have given up only 2 goals in total.  I have not seen any of their games, so I cannot say for sure, but the implication of their scores so far is that they put a big emphasis on defense.

They play this evening (Wednesday) at 7:00 pm at home against UC San Diego, if anyone wants to check out how they play.