All-American midfielder Angie Woznuk and the Pilots expect a tough test Thursday

The No. 5 Portland Pilots will meet West Coast Conference rival and No. 4 ranked Santa Clara Broncos in the nationally televised NSCAA College Match of the Week this Thursday at Buck Shaw Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. The game will be shown live on Fox Soccer Channel at 8 p.m. (Pacific) with Ridge Mahoney calling the action. Fox Soccer Channel is available on Comcast Digital Cable channel 401 and DirecTV channel 613. Portland will conclude the weekend at San Diego on Sunday at 1 p.m.

One of the biggest rivalries in college soccer, Portland and Santa Clara have either won or had a share of all 14 WCC titles and have claimed three of the last five NCAA Championships. Santa Clara took the 2001 title and Portland followed in 2002 by beating the Broncos for its first NCAA Championship. The Pilots also won the title last year with an undefeated 23-0-2 record.

Both teams will be shorthanded as the Broncos have had four players suffer season-ending injuries, while the Pilots lost sophomore All-American and U.S. National Teamer Megan Rapinoe for the year with a knee injury. Rapinoe was among the national scoring leaders all season before the injury and had been called up to the U.S. National Team for its last three matches. She tallied her first two goals with the US WNT in a 10-0 win over Chinese Taipei on October 1.

In three matches since the injury to Rapinoe, the Pilots have gone 2-0-1 with conference wins over Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s and a 1-1 draw with San Francisco. Freshman striker Michelle Enyeart has picked up the scoring slack since joining the starting lineup nine games ago. Enyeart has nine goals and six assists as a starter and currently leads all freshmen nationally with 13 goals.

Last weekend, Enyeart provided Portland’s only goal in the tie with the Dons, and added her fifth game-winner in Sunday’s 3-0 win over Saint Mary’s. Another Rapinoe, Megan’s twin sister Rachael, has also been on a scoring tear of late. After starting the first five games at right back, Rachael Rapinoe has started the last nine contests up front and has three goals and five assists. Junior Natalie Budge has eight goals and six assists, while junior All-American midfielder Angie Woznuk leads all Pilots with nine assists. Freshman Kendra Chandhoke, rated the No. 7 recruit in the nation by Soccer Buzz, adds seven goals and five assists. Senior goalie Cori Alexander, UP’s career shutouts leader with 36, posts a 0.54 goals-against average this season.

Portland returns 17 players, including eight starters, from a 2005 championship squad that set a school record of wins (23-0-2) and joined North Carolina as the only programs to win a title with an unbeaten record. Head coach Garrett Smith has a career record of 73-9-6 (.864) in his fourth season at the helm. Smith was previously an assistant at UP for 11 years under Clive Charles.

All-American defender Stephanie Lopez, who joined Woznuk and Rapinoe as preseason All-Americas, has missed all but six matches as a result of a rigorous travel schedule for national team commitments. Lopez is expected to be available this weekend. Portland is redshirting freshman midfielder Sophie Schmidt due to Canadian National Team commitments and sophomore goalkeeper transfer Kelsey Davis.

Santa Clara

The No. 4 Broncos (11-3-1, 1-1-1 WCC) had a tough weekend in Southern California, battling to a 1-1 draw against No. 21 Loyola Marymount before dropping a tough 1-0 decision to the Pepperdine Waves last week. Meagan Snell scored her team-leading 10th goal of the year in Friday’s tie with the Lions, while goalkeeper Meagan McCray made 10 saves in the contest. Sunday, the Broncos outshot the Waves 16-7, but an 81st-minute goal by Sophia Medina was the difference. Snell’s 22 points (10g, 2a) are tops on the SCU roster, while freshman Kiki Bosio adds one goal and a team-high eight assists. McCray posts a 0.52 goals-against average and seven shutouts in goal for the Broncos. Head Coach Jerry Smith is in his 20th season at Santa Clara and is one of only three coaches with 300 career victories. He has led the Broncos to 17 straight NCAA Tournament appearances and 10 trips to the College Cup. 

Portland-Santa Clara Series

The Broncos lead the all-time series with a 13-10-2 overall record, making them the only WCC school with a winning record against the Pilots. SCU is also 9-1-1 all-time against UP at Buck Shaw Stadium. The last 16 meetings have been split with each team posting seven wins and two games ending in ties. The teams have met three times in the postseason with Portland defeating the Broncos in the 2001 championship game, 2-1 in double overtime. SCU bounced the Pilots from the 2003 playoffs in the third round via a PK shootout after a 0-0 draw. Portland knocked off SCU by a 2-0 margin in the first round of the 1993 playoffs. Last year, the Pilots earned a 3-1 victory over the Broncos in Portland.

San Diego

The Toreros (9-6-0, 1-2-0) split a pair of WCC matches this past week, dropping a heart breaker to Pepperdine on Friday, 2-1, in double overtime before defeating then-No. 21 LMU 2-1 on Sunday. USD is led by Leigh Ann Robinson with six goals and six assists. Head Coach Ada Greenwood is 27-28-7 in three years with the Toreros.

Portland-San Diego Series

Portland is 9-2-2 all-time against San Diego, including a 5-0 win last year at the Clive Charles Soccer Complex. In the last seven meetings, Portland holds a slim 3-2-2 edge as every decision has been within one goal.