TopDrawerSoccer.com

PORTLAND, Ore. --- Portland junior goalkeeper Erin Dees, who made three clutch, season-saving stops during PK’s against Washington State in an NCAA First Round game on Friday night, is the Top Drawer Soccer National Player of the Week. Dees and the Pilots advanced past WSU 6-5 in PK’s after the two sides played to a 2-2 tie during 90 minutes of regulation and two 10-minute overtimes.
 
With the Cougars needing to convert just one more PK to advance during the shootout on three separate occasions, Dees came up with three improbable saves. With the shootout tied 4-4 and Washington State standing over the ball with a chance to seal it, Dees came up with her first big-time stop.
 
The Pilots would miss the ensuing PK, meaning Dees had to come through again, and she did. Two makes and a UP miss later and Dees was once again called upon to preserve Portland’s season, and again the Downers Grove, Ill., native denied the Cougs. Portland would then make its PK, and the Cougars’ attempt to continue the shootout was high, sparking a wild celebration on the Merlo Field pitch.
 
Dees also converted the fourth PK for the Pilots, tying the shootout and ensuring the Cougars had to at least attempt a fifth PK.

She also made a pair of diving saves during the second half to preserve the 2-2 tie, and she matched a season high with eight saves total.
 
The Pilots next head to State College, Pa., for a Second Round game against the Michigan Wolverines on Friday at 2 p.m. (Pacific). The winner of that game will face the winner between top-seeded Penn State and Boston College in the Third Round.