The University of Portland and Santa Clara University women’s soccer teams take the pitch for one of the biggest college soccer matches of the year this Friday at Merlo Field. The No. 2 Pilots (14-0-1, 2-0-1 WCC) are one of only two remaining unbeaten teams in the nation, but trail the No. 5 Broncos (13-2-1, 3-0-0 WCC) in the early conference standings. A sellout crowd is expected as the game kicks off at 7 p.m. Portland will then host San Diego on Sunday, Oct. 23 at 2 p.m.
The Pilots enter the weekend ranked No. 2 in every national poll behind Penn State - the only team with a perfect record at 15-0-0.
Portland headed into last weekend 13-0 and trounced Loyola Marymount, 3-0, before playing then-No. 10 Pepperdine to a 1-1 tie. Senior phenom Christine Sinclair was a part of all four goals and earned West Coast Conference Co-Player of the Week honors, her fifth weekly conference award this season. Sinclair netted a pair of goals and assisted on the other against the Lions on Friday. Portland was put in an unusual predicament on Sunday as Pepperdine became its first opponent of the season to gain a lead. Trailing 1-0 at halftime, Sinclair equalized in the 53rd minute and Portland dominated the rest of regulation and the overtime periods but had to settle for the draw. The Pilots held a 19-5 shot edge on the day and outshot the Waves 15-1 after halftime.
Sinclair’s strike against Pepperdine gave her 16 consecutive games with a goal, breaking the previous NCAA held by Santa Clara’s Brandi Chastain in 1990. Sinclair and Penn State’s Tiffany Weimer each tied the record on Friday and Weimer’s streak is still alive at 15 games.
Sinclair is the top scorer in the nation with 27 goals and 61 points. She is now the all-time WCC career leader in goals with 98 and points with 225 and enters the weekend sixth in NCAA history in career goals and tied for seventh in total points. She was recently one of 24 women in the world nominated for the 2005 FIFA Player of the Year award. She is the only collegiate player on the list.
The Pilots have outscored opponents 46-5 and outshot opponents 327-67 on the season. No team has attempted double figure shots in a game against the UP defense. Portland is averaging 3,129 fans per game and is on pace to shatter the school records for average (2,378, 1994) and total attendance in a single-season (28,533, 1994).
About No. 5 Santa Clara
The Broncos (13-2-1, 3-0-0 WCC) sit atop the WCC standings after routing San Francisco by a 5-0 margin on Sunday. Santa Clara is second in the WCC to Portland in scoring proficiency, logging 30 goals and 24 assists. Ten Broncos have found the back of the net, led by sophomore forward Jordan Angeli’s 10 goals and three assists. Junior Tina Estrada adds six goals, while sophomore Meagan Snell has distributed six assists. Junior goalie Julie Ryder has started 12 games and posts a 0.45 goals-against average, 30 saves and six shutouts.
Head coach Jerry Smith is in his 19th season at Santa Clara and recently joined North Carolina’s Anson Dorrance and Connecticut’s Len Tsantiris as the only Division I women’s soccer coaches in the 300-win club. Smith has accumulated a 307-76-25 career record at Santa Clara.
Portland/Santa Clara Series
One of the few teams with a winning record against the Pilots, Santa Clara leads the all-time series with a 13-9-2 mark. Over the last six meetings, SCU is 4-1-1 with its only loss coming in the 2002 NCAA Championship game. The Broncos responded by ousting the Pilots from the 2003 playoffs in a quarterfinal shootout following a 0-0 tie. Last year, the Broncos dealt UP a 1-0 loss at Santa Clara.
About San Diego
The Torerors (4-9-1, 1-2-0 WCC) entered the 2005 campaign with a preseason ranking, but have struggled under the duress of a strong schedule. USD has fallen to five ranked opponents this year, including four that were in the top 10 at the time of competition. The Toreros defeated Saint Mary’s on Sunday, 2-0, ending a five-game winless streak. Senior forward Michelle Rowe leads the Toreros with four goals and an assist, while sophomore forward Amy Epsten, the defending WCC Freshman of the Year, has three goals and two assists.
Head coach Ada Greenwood is in his third year with the Toreros and has a 25-25-7 overall record. Greenwood has guided USD to the NCAA playoffs in each of his first two seasons at the helm.
Portland/San Diego Series
The Pilots lead the all-time series 8-2-2, although over the last six meetings the teams have split with a 2-2-2 mark. Portland squeaked out a 1-0 win on the road last season as Kelsy Hollenbeck netted the game-winner with 16 seconds remaining in regulation. The teams tied in their previous two meetings: 2-2 in 2003 at Merlo Field and 0-0 at San Diego in 2002.
