SAN DIEGO, Calif. – Portland has made late-game heroics a recent habit and No. 21 San Diego was the latest victim as Pilot junior defender Kelsy Hollenbeck put away a goal with 16 seconds remaining in regulation for a 1-0 Portland victory Friday night at Torero Stadium. Portland (15-2-0, 4-0-0 WCC) is a perfect 6-0-0 on the road this season and now claims sole possession of first place in the WCC standings, while San Diego (9-7-1, 3-1-0 WCC) snapped a six-match unbeaten streak with the loss.
Junior All-Americans Christine Sinclair and Lindsey Huie were credited with assists on the goal, which was knocked home off a corner kick. Huie sent the cross into the box as it was tipped by USD keeper Karen Cook off of the right goal post. Sinclair gathered the ball and flicked a pass to Hollenbeck who toed home the game-winner for her first goal of the season.
Portland continues the trend of late game-winning goals which began last weekend with a pair of overtime wins against Pepperdine and Loyola Marymount. Sinclair notched the game-winner against Pepperdine in double overtime with less than a minute remaining on the clock. She also scored the game-winner three minutes into overtime against Loyola Marymount, with Huie assisting on both strikes.
Friday night was very similar in that the Pilots controlled play with an 18-6 shot advantage, but could not get one past a pesky Torero defense and the solid play of Cook between the pipes.
“I told Ada Greenwood (USD head coach) after the match that it had to be an ugly one or it wasn’t happening,” said Pilot coach Garrett Smith. “There were plenty of good opportunities and it just so happens the game-winner comes out of a scrum. We did everything up to that point to win, so fortune was on our side.”
Portland sophomore goalie Cori Alexander turned in another solid performance, making four saves and diffusing six USD corner kicks in recording her seventh shutout of the season. Cook stopped seven Pilot shots in goal for the Toreros.
Sinclair and Huie each tallied six shots, while freshman forward Natalie Budge had four shots for the Pilots. Sinclair now has 17 goals and nine assists, while Huie extended her league-leading assist total to 10. USD freshman Amy Epsten came off the bench for two shots to lead the Toreros.
“Our goal before this weekend series began was to get 10 wins to finish off the season,” Smith noted. “Now we just have nine more to win and each one is very valuable. We want to be playing at home throughout the playoffs and any loss in our final three regular season matches could put that in jeopardy. We are looking forward to Sunday’s contest with Santa Clara, it will be a good test for this team as our WCC season winds down.”
The Pilots will now travel to the Bay Area for a much-anticipated match-up with defending WCC Champion Santa Clara. The game is scheduled for Sunday, Oct. 24 at 1 p.m. and will be a tape-delayed, nationally televised broadcast on College Sports Television (CSTV) to be aired on Thursday, Oct. 28 at 5 p.m. and 8 p.m. The game features two of the last three NCAA Champions and will be the first meeting between the rivals since SCU knocked the Pilots out of the third round of last year’s NCAA Playoffs in a penalty kick shootout.
