PORTLAND PILOTS (12-5-1, 6-1-0 WCC)
NCAA First Round: at No. 22 New Mexico
 
No. 22 New Mexico Lobos (12-6-2, 4-3-2 Conference USA)
Day: Thursday
Date: Nov. 17, 2016
City: Albuquerque, N.M.
Time: 6:00 p.m. (Pacific)
Pitch: UNM Soccer Complex
Video: GoLobos.com
Stats: GoLobos.com
 
POR vs. UNM
Overall Series: 2-1-2
H: 0-0-1  •  A: 2-1-0  •  N: 0-0-1
Last: POR 2, UNM 1 (9/12/2010)
 
THIS WEEK
• The Pilots return to the NCAA Postseason for the first time since 2009 when they travel to Albuquerque, N.M., to face the New Mexico Lobos in a First Round game at the UNM Soccer Complex at 6 p.m. (Pacific).
• The winner of the Pilots-Lobos match will advance to play at Washington on Sunday, as the Huskies received a first-round bye after picking up the No. 11 seed.
 
THE NCAA's
• The Pilots are making their 15th appearance in the NCAA Postseason all-time, and it's the first playoff visit since 2009.
• Portland clinched the WCC's automatic postseason bid by winning the program's first league title since 2002.
• The winner between the Pilots and Lobos advances to face 11-seed Washington in Seattle on Sunday evening.
• Also in Portland's portion of the bracket are No. 6 seed Denver, San Diego State and UNLV.
• Coincidentally, the last time the Pilots reached the postseason in 2009, they also opened with a first-round game at New Mexico; the Pilots defeated the Lobos 2-1 in overtime on a game-winner in the 98th minute from Collen Warner, with an assist from current UP assistant coach Logan Emory.
• Portland has been to two College Cups (1988 & 1995).
 
LAST WEEK
• Portland entered the final game of the regular season needing a win to secure the WCC title, and the Pilots got the job done with a 1-0 win over Saint Mary's in front of 4,362 fans on Saturday night at Merlo Field.
• Matthew Coffey produced the game-winner in the sixth minute with the assist from Rey Ortiz, who caught the Gaels off guard with a quick restart on a free kick.
• Coffey nabbed WCC Player of the Week honors as the Pilots won their first WCC title since 2002.
 
ALL-WCC
• The Pilots nearly swept the WCC's Postseason honors as Eddie Sanchez is the WCC's Player of the Year, Paul Christensen is the league's goalkeeper of the year, Benji Michel was named the conference freshman of the year, and Nick Carlin-Voigt is the co-coach of the year.
• Sanchez, Michel and Kris Reaves were also named to the All-WCC First Team, while Christensen landed on the All-WCC Second Team; Matthew Coffey and Lionel Mills both earned all-league honorable mention, and Michel and Gio Magana-Rivera were selected to the conference all-freshman team.
• Sanchez is the first Pilot to be named the league's player of the year since 2003, Christensen is the program's first keeper to ever earn the league's top award, which was implemented a few years ago, Michel is Portland's first league freshman of the year since Sanchez in 2013, and Carlin-Voigt earns the team's first coach of the year accolade since Clive Charles in 2002.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS...
• The Pilots are making their 15th appearance in the NCAA Postseason all-time, and it's the first playoff visit since 2009.
• Portland clinched the WCC's automatic postseason bid by winning the program's first league title since 2002 with a 1-0 win over Saint Mary's Saturday night; the league title is the Pilots' sixth all-time.
• The Pilots won just one conference game combined the previous two seasons, and Portland's 6-1-0 league mark is their best WCC record since 1989.
• Junior midfielder Matthew Coffey, who netted the game-winner vs. the Gaels is the reigning WCC Player of the Week; Coffey is the third Pilot to earn to the award this year, joining Paul Christensen and Eddie Sanchez, who has won the distinction twice.
• Sanchez also landed on Top Drawer Soccer's National Team of the Week three times.
• The Pilots' seven-game winning streak earlier this season was the program's longest winning streak since 1995.
• The Pilots rank eighth in the nation in goals per game (2.00), are 13th in total goals (36), and rank 21st in points per game (5.33).
• Freshman Benji Michel ranks 30th nationally in points per game (1.33), is 32nd in total goals (10) and is 34th in total points (24); he's first in the WCC in all three categories.
• Michel was named to Top Drawer Soccer's Team of the Week (Oct. 17) and was tabbed the No. 24 freshman in the country, also by Top Drawer Soccer.
• Portland is receiving votes in the NSCAA Top 25, and the Pilots are ranked No. 20 in the latest Top Drawer Soccer rankings.
• During a recent four-game stretch (Sept. 22 - Oct. 14) the Pilots scored 15 goals, which was the most goals scored during a four-game span since Portland collected 17 goals over four contests in 1999.
• Eddie Sanchez's hat trick at Gonzaga on Sunday, Oct. 9 was the first for a Pilot since teammate Brandon Zambrano accomplished the feat in 2014.
• Sanchez had quite the weekend in Evansville, Ind. (Sept. 9-11), scoring two goals and ending up on SportsCenter as the Pilots won the 2016 ProRehab Aces Classic; he nabbed the tourney's offensive MVP award.
• The Pilots are under the guidance of first-year head coach Nick Carlin-Voigt, who was hired to lead the program in January; Carlin-Voigt spent the past four years as the associate head coach for the UCLA Bruins.
• Joining Carlin-Voigt on the bench are first-year assistant coaches Leonard Griffin, who came with Carlin-Voigt from UCLA, and UP alum Logan Emory, who spent time with Toronto FC of the MLS after graduating from Portland in 2009.
• Volunteer assistant coach Emerson De Oliveira and undergraduate assistant coach Steven Evans, a former Pilot standout, complete the staff.
• Portland's nine newcomers were tabbed as the No. 17 recruiting class in the nation.
• The Pilots claim renowned men's soccer alums Kasey Keller, Steve Cherundolo, Conor Casey, Nate Jaqua, Heath Pearce, and reigning MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Luis Robles.
 • In 1988, legendary coach Clive Charles led Keller and the Pilots to the school's first ever NCAA College Cup; the Pilots returned to the College Cup in 1995.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
• The Lobos, who are unbeaten at home and are No. 21 in the latest RPI, claimed their first Conference USA Championship in program history.
• The Pilots and Lobos have played three similar opponents, with both losing 2-1 in double overtime at Denver; both teams also defeated UC Irvine and LMU.
• New Mexico has outscored its opponents 33-17 this season, and senior forward Niko Hansen leads the nation in game-winners (7) and is seventh in total goals (13).
• Junior keeper Jason Beaulieu has a 0.77 GAA and seven shutouts.
• Head coach Jeremy Fishbein is in his 15th season at the helm of the Lobos, and he's led UNM to the NCAA Postseason 11 times; the Lobos have made five trips to the Sweet 16 and claim a pair of NCAA College Cup appearances (2005 & 2013), advancing to the 2005 national championship match.