THIS WEEK
Oct. 28: at UCLA, 2 p.m. - Pacific Soccer Challenge
Oct. 29: vs. Washington, 1:15 p.m.
THE OPPONENTS
#15 UCLA: Like the Pilots, UCLA (9-4-0/1-4-0 in the Pac-10) is on a three-game slide after road losses to California (1-0) and Oregon State (2-1). Prior to that, UCLA lost 3-2 at home to Washington and is 1-4-0 in the last five games.
McKinley Tennyson, a MAC Award and Hermann Trophy finalist, has 12 goals and 26 points to lead the Bruins, while Shaun Tsakiris adds eight goals and 22 points. DJ Countess has a 0.99 goals against average in 13 games, having allowed 12 goals.
Portland is just 1-5-2 all-time against the Bruins, with three of the matchups coming in the NCAA playoffs.
#7 Washington: The Huskies (9-4-0/4-1-0 in the Pac-10) saw a six-match winning streak end Sunday with a 2-0 home loss to Stanford. Ben Somoza leads the team with 13 points (3g-7a), and Bryn Ritchie adds 11 points (4g-3a), but seven players have each scored at least three goals. Chad Olson has a 1.15 goals against average in 13 games, having allowed all 15 opponent goals.
Washington is 19-9-2 all-time in the series between the two teams, and the Huskies have won four of the last five meetings. Portland hasn’t beaten Washington on Merlo Field since a 1-0 NCAA first round playoff win in 1995.
LAST WEEK’S RESULTS
LMU 3, Portland 2 (ot): A sellout and record crowd of 917 fans at Sullivan Field watched the Loyola Marymount men’s soccer team upset West Coast Conference rival Portland 3-2 in overtime on Sunday. The victory raised LMU’s record to 9-5-1 overall and 2-1-1 in West Coast Conference play, equaling the school record for victories in a season and assuring the Lions of a winning record in 2000.
The heroics in Loyola Marymount’s sixth overtime victory this season were provided at the 100:23 mark by freshman midfielder Kevin Novak. After a flurry of activity around the Pilots’ goal in which LMU junior Rigo Pardo and sophomore Arturo Torres fired shots on goal, Novak tracked down the ball rolling towards the right post and punched it home for the game-winner.
The Huntington Beach, Calif., native also notched the game-tying goal in the 64th minute of the second half when he fielded a short cross from Torres near the left post and beat UP sophomore keeper Curtis Spiteri for the first score of his collegiate career.
That goal came just 19 seconds after Portland took a 2-1 lead when senior defender Jeff Alexander headed in a free kick taken on the right side by senior midfielder Miguel Luna at the 64:25 mark.
The two squads also traded goals in the first half. UP, ranked eighth nationally by Soccer America, opened the scoring just 3:10 into the contest when forward Kelly Gray connected on a header, also off a direct kick from Luna.
Torres then evened the score in the 33rd minute when he collected a one-touch pass from sophomore midfielder Andres Murriagui beyond the left side of the box and rifled home his team-leading 10th goal of the season. Torres’ goal established a new Loyola Marymount career scoring record of 65 points, surpassing the mark originally set by Jorge Martinez who played at LMU from 1993-96.
Meanwhile Lion senior keeper Jerad Bailey increased his NCAA Division I-leading save total to 101 with 10 stops against Portland (8-4-2, 0-3-0 WCC).
San Diego 3, Portland 1: The 16th-ranked Toreros improved to 11-1-2 on the season and 2-0-1 in the WCC race with their 3-1 defeat of the Pilots (8-3-2; 0-2 WCC).
The Pilots got on the scoreboard first when freshman forward Nate Jaqua scored his team-leading 8th goal of the season at 18:16. He blasted in from 10 yards out from the left side after Conor Casey crossed a ball to the middle that was passed over to Jaqua from Miguel Luna.
San Diego freshman Matt McCausland knotted the score at 1-all at 21:54 when he drilled an 18-yarder left-footer from the right wing that found the upper lefthand corner of the net. Sophomore Ryan Coiner, USD’s leading scorer on the season with 37 points, assisted on the play.
McCausland assisted on the eventual game-winner at 36:12 when he sent a cross from the middle to the right side where sophomore Sy Reeves sent a 15-yarder past UP goalie Curtis Spiteri. The match was a close battle over the next forty minutes, but Torero freshman Scott Burcar’s header in close off a corner kick from Miguel Suazo at 75:11 gave the Toreros an insurance goal that put the game away.
USD goalie Justin Neerhoff tallied 5 saves against the Pilots who had 15 shots on the night; UP’s Spirteri was credited with 4 saves as the Toreros outshot the Pilots by one, 16-15.
AND THE LAST TIME . . .
The Pilots have to win at least one of their final five games to avoid the program’s first losing season since 1982. Prior to this year, Portland has had just two losing records - 11-12-2 in 1978, and 8-9-3 in 1982.
Portland hasn’t lost three straight games since the 1997 season, when the Pilots dropped consecutive games to San Diego, Santa Clara and Gonzaga (all by 2-1 scores).
Back in 1994, Portland lost four straight games, and in 1991, Portland also lost three straight games.
The last time Portland gave at least six goals in two games was also in 1997, when the Pilots lost 4-3 at Seattle Pacific, followed by a 4-2 win against Saint Mary’s. Prior to the SPU loss, Portland had lost 3-0 at Clemson. You have to go back to 1994 to find the other two-game total of six games allowed (a 5-3 win over Virginia Commonwealth, followed by a 3-0 loss to William & Mary).
WELCOME BACK . . . NOW GET TO WORK
It’s not like the Pilots are desperate for offense, but the return of Conor Casey - the reigning NCAA Division scoring leader - from the Olympics couldn’t have come at a better time.
Casey had a goal and an assist against Cal Poly in his first game back, and opened up a Pilot offense which had averaged 1.8 goals per game in the eight game stretch he had missed. With Casey in the season’s first two games, the Pilots averaged 4.0 goals per game.
AND OF COURSE TWO LOSSES CONTINUES THE FREE FALL
Ahh, the joys of deciphering the polls. At least this week, all five men’s soccer polls agreed on one thing: Portland’s road losses were not good. The quintet of ratings each dropped Portland’s standing, some drastically, some rationally.
Soccer Times sent Portland packing with a drop of 10 spots to #26, and the NSCAA coaches’ poll continues to refuse the Plots entry into their club. MaddogSoccer.com dropped Portland eight spots to #15, and Soccer America lowered Portland six spots to #14.
The NCAA media poll has Portland at #11, a drop of only four spots.
In the West Region, Portland is #3 (NCAA), #5 (Maddog Soccer, Soccer America), and #7 (NSCAA, Soccer Times).
PILOTS JOIN ELITE SHUTOUT LIST
Portland’s two shutouts over Indiana and Butler matched a rare record in Pilot soccer history. Prior to this season, only three teams (1999, 1995, 1989) had started the season with shutouts.
The 1989 team actually started the season with three shutouts, but the second game in that streak was a 0-0 tie with Fresno State.
CASEY, CLIVE A HIT FOR OLYMPIANS
Conor Casey was the only amateur athlete on the U.S. men’s Olympic team and was the squad’s second-youngest member. The bruising forward started all six matches and led the U.S. with 10 shots on goal, and added an assist against the Czech Republic.
Clive Charles directed the U.S. men’s team to its highest-ever finish in Olympic competition, as the U.S. advanced out of pool play and into the medal round for the first time. In the quarterfinals, the U.S. beat Japan on penalty kicks, but lost to Spain in the semifinals. U.S. hopes for a bronze medal were dashed in a 2-0 loss to Chile.
CASEY ALSO A HERMANN FINALIST
U.S. Olympic team member Conor Casey from the University of Portland, the only college player on the Olympic team, and Duke’s Ali Curtis, last year’s Missouri Athletic Club Player of the Year Award winner, head the list of 2000 Hermann Trophy finalists.
Casey led the nation in scoring last season as a freshman, and becomes just the third Pilot named as a finalist for the award. Kasey Keller (1990, 1991) was a two-time nominee, while Joe Leonetti was also nominated in 1991.
Defending NCAA champion Indiana, the University of Connecticut, Southern Methodist University and the University of Virginia all had two players on the 15-player list for the Hermann, one of two major college soccer player of the year awards.
Indiana senior goalkeeper T.J. Hannig and junior forward Ryan Mack represented the Hoosiers, while Brent Rahim and Chris Gbandi were selected from Uconn. Kyle Martino and Ryan Trout were selected from Virginia, and Mohamed Fahim and Carl Bussey represent SMU.
Collegiate coaches and select media members will vote for the Hermann winners, which will be announced on Saturday, Dec. 9 in Charlotte, N.C., in conjunction with the 2000 Men’s College Cup.
The Hermann Trophy is named after Robert R. Hermann, founding Chairman of the North American Soccer League. The first Hermann was presented in 1967.
2000 HERMANN TROPHY FINALISTS
Carl Bussey, Southern Methodist
Conor Casey, Portland
Ali Curtis, Duke
Nick Downing, Maryland
Mohamed Fahim, Southern Methodist
Chris Gbandi, Connecticut
Cory Gibbs, Brown
T.J. Hannig, Indiana
Ryan Mack, Indiana
Kyle Martino, Virginia
Lee Morrison, Stanford
Brent Rahim, Connecticut
McKinley Tennyson, UCLA
Ryan Trout, Virginia
Ricardo Villar, Penn State
CASEY NAMED TO OLYMPIC SOCCER TEAM
Portland sophomore also a preseason All-American
University of Portland sophomore forward Conor Casey was named to the 18-player United States men’s soccer team, U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team head coach Clive Charles announced.
"These were all difficult decisions," said U.S. U-23 Head Coach Clive Charles, who has led the squad to a 7-4-1 overall record in 2000 play. "We've added three of the top players in the country and I really feel like we've got the best team possible heading over to the Olympics."
Casey, a native of Denver, Colo., is the only player on the 18-man roster that is not a professional. Entering his sophomore season under Charles at the University of Portland, the 6'1" Casey has scored six goals and added four assists in 12 overall games for the U-23's in 2000, following his breakout freshman season in which he led the NCAA Division I in scoring with a whopping 23 goals to go with seven assists.
Earlier in the summer, Casey was named a preseason first-team all-American by College Soccer Online.
Casey joins Yari Allnutt (1992), Kasey Keller (1992, ‘96), Linus Rhode (1996, Canada), and Davide Xausa (1996, Canada), as Pilot alums who have represented their country as Olympians.
UP-SCU MATCHUP TOPS ONLINE MAGAZINE’S FAN POLL
The University of Portland men’s soccer team’s Oct.15 showdown with West Coast Conference rival Santa Clara is the top choice of fans answering an online poll at College Soccer Online(www.collegesoccer.com).
Answering the question, “Which of these 2000 Division I Men'smatchups would you most like to attend?,” 28% of those responding have chosen the Pilots-Broncos matchup in Portland on Oct. 15 as the game they’d most like to see.
Duke at UConn (Sept. 2) is second with 23% of the vote, while UCLA at Indiana (also Sept. 2) is third with 21.4% of the vote. Portland also faces Indiana Sept. 1.
COLLEGE SOCCER ONLINE POLL RESULTS (as of 7-6-00)
Santa Clara at Portland (Oct. 15) 28.0%
Duke at UConn (Sept. 2 ) 23.0%
UCLA at Indiana (Sept. 2 ) 21.4%
South Carolina at Virginia (Sept. 10) 13.0
Saint Louis at Rutgers (Oct. 6) 11.1%
St. John's at Notre Dame (Oct. 14) 3.5%
PILOTS TOP WCC POLL
The University of Portland men’s soccer team is the preseason favorite to win the West Coast Conference, according to the annual WCC coaches’ poll. The Pilots earned four of the possible seven first-place votes, with Santa Clara receiving two votes and Gonzaga one.
Portland was 12-5-2 last season and ended a three-year NCAA tournament drought, but lost 3-2 in the first round to Washington.
Here is the results of the coaches’ polls (first-place votes in parentheses):
Men's Soccer
1. Portland (4) 32
2. Santa Clara(2) 28
3. Gonzaga(1) 27
4. San Diego 22
5. Loyola Marymount 17
6. Saint Mary's 11
San Francisco 11
