PORTLAND PILOTS (5-5-0, 0-0-0 WCC)
Week 7: vs. #18 Pacific
 
No. 18 Pacific Tigers (8-2-0, 0-0-0 WCC)
Day: Saturday
Date: Oct. 7, 2017
Time: 7:00 p.m.
City: Portland, Ore.
Pitch: Merlo Field
TV: NBC Sports Northwest
Video: TheW.tv
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. PAC
Overall Series: 3-3-0
H: 2-0-0  •  A: 1-3-0  •  N: 0-0-0
Last: @PAC 1, POR  (11/6/2016)
 
THIS WEEK
• The Pilots battle their third straight ranked opponent when they open West Coast Conference play this weekend against the No. 18 Pacific Tigers at Merlo Field on Saturday night.
• The match is set for 7 p.m., and it will be broadcast live regionally on NBC Sports Northwest.
• It will also be streamed online at the TheW.tv.
 
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots split a pair of games against top-10 teams, dismantling No. 9 Western Michigan 4-1 on Friday night at Merlo Field before succumbing to No. 10 Virginia 2-1 in overtime in Charlottesville.
• Against the Broncos, Benji Michel scored twice as the Pilots broke open a 1-1 tie at the half with three unanswered second-half goals.
• Matthew Coffey had a goal and an assist in his first game back from injury, and Rey Ortiz tallied two assists.
• On Monday night, Coffey finished on a perfectly executed set piece by the Pilots in the 12th minute to hand Portland an early 1-0 lead, but the Cavaliers equalized in the second half before claiming the game-winner in the first overtime.
• Michel was named the WCC's Player of the Week for the second time this season following his two-goal performance against Western Michigan.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS...
• Sophomore striker Benji Michel is the reigning WCC Player of the Week after scoring twice during a 4-1 win over No. 9 and previously unbeaten Western Michigan at Merlo Field on Sept. 29; Michel was also the initial WCC Player of the Week (Aug. 28) after a four-goal performance during the opening weekend, which included a first-half hat trick vs. Fairfield; Michel also landed on the Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week.
• Michel leads the WCC and is No. 6 nationally with eight goals.
• Sophomore Rey Ortiz is third in the country with nine assists, which also leads the conference.
• As a team, the Pilots rank in the top 10 nationally in several statistical categories: assists per game (2.40, No. 7), points per game (7.00, No. 7), total points (70, No. 7), total assists (24, No. 7), total goals (23, No. 9), and goals per game (2.30, No. 10); Portland leads the WCC in each category.
• Benji Michel made history on Sunday (Aug. 27) when he registered a hat trick during the first 26 minutes of a 6-0 win over Fairfield; the hat trick was the first at Merlo Field since UP's Alejandro Salazar accomplished the feat in 2003.
• Jason Romero also tallied a hat trick during the win, which featured the most goals scored by the Pilots since a 6-0 win over Marshall in 2006.
• Senior goalkeeper Paul Christensen has three shutouts this season, giving him 17 in his career, which ranks sixth all-time at UP; he's sixth all-time with 261 career saves.
• 4,385 fans, which included a remarkable 2,113 students, packed Merlo Field when the Pilots hosted UNLV in their home-opener on Friday, Aug. 25; it's the second largest men's soccer crowd in program history.
• Portland picked up two first-place votes and was slated to finish second in the WCC this year.
• A league-best three Pilots were voted to the Preseason All-WCC team as Paul Christensen, Benji Michel and Kris Reaves were selected by the conference coaches.
• Portland returned 16 letterwinners and seven starters, and joining Christensen, Michel and Reaves are three other Pilots (Matthew Coffey, Lionel Mills, Gio Magana-Rivera) who earned all-league recognition last season.
• The 2017 recruiting class, which features 12 incoming newcomers, was ranked fifth in the country by College Soccer News and No. 6 by Top Drawer Soccer.
• Second-year head coach Nick Carlin-Voigt led the Pilots to an improbable turn-around in 2016 as he guided the team to the top of the WCC, a year after a last-place showing.
• Milestones from 2016 include:
        -A seven-game winning streak (Sept. 22 - Oct. 30), which is the program's longest winning streak since 1995.
        -The 5-0-0 start in the WCC matched the legendary 1988 Portland squad for the best start to a conference schedule in program history.
        -Won first WCC Championship since 2002.
        -Reached NCAA Postseason for first time since 2009.
        -Posted most wins (12) since 2009.
        -6-1 conference mark is the best since 1989; this came after the program only won one WCC game the previous two seasons combined.
        -Worst to First: Pilots went 1-12-1 in the WCC during the previous two years.
        -10th in the country in average attendance (2,298).
        -Nearly swept WCC individual honors, as then-senior Eddie Sanchez was named WCC Player of the Year, Benji Michel was the league's freshman of the year, Paul Christensen was selected as goalkeeper of the year, and Nick Carlin-Voigt was tabbed as the co-coach of the year.
        -Carlin-Voigt is the program's first league coach of the year since Clive Charles in 2002.
• Carlin-Voigt, who came to The Bluff from UCLA during the winter of 2016, was recently named one of the Top 10 American Coaches under 40 by Top Drawer Soccer.
• The Pilots claim renowned men's soccer alums Kasey Keller, Steve Cherundolo, Conor Casey, Nate Jaqua, Heath Pearce, and 2015 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.
• The Pilots have made 15 appearances in the NCAA Postseason all-time, which includes two appearances in the College Cup (1988 & 1995).
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
• The No. 18 Pacific Tigers, who were picked as the favorite to win the WCC crown in the preseason coaches' poll, are coming off a 2-0 win at West Virginia.
• The Tigers have outscored opponents 19-8 this season, and they featured a balanced scoring attack as 10 different players have scored a goal.
• Camden Riley and Anthony Orendain each have a team-best three goals, while Bob Groenendijk leads the Tigers with four assists.
• Pacific is tops in the WCC in fewest goals allowed (8), goals against average (0.80) and shutouts (4).
• Senior goalkeeper Curtis Goldsmith has played every minute in goal, and he leads the WCC in GAA (0.80) and shutouts (4).
• Ryan Jorden is in his fourth year as head coach at Pacific, which came into existence as a program in 2014.
• The Tigers reached the NCAA Second Round in 2016 and they handed the Pilots their only conference loss last year.