PORTLAND, Ore. - Megan Rapinoe scored two goals and Christine Sinclair added a third as No. 4 Portland raced to a 3-0 victory over No. 14 Stanford Saturday night at Merlo Field in the season opener for both schools. A crowd of 4,524, the fifth largest audience in Portland soccer history, witnessed the event. Portland dominated early, scoring all three goals in the first half and finished with a 20-3 edge in shot attempts.

Rapinoe, a freshman who redshirted the 2004 collegiate season while competing at the U-19 FIFA World Championships, wowed the crowd with stellar midfield play throughout the game. She put the Pilots on the board less than five minutes into the action, finishing a cross from senior All-American Lindsey Huie.

In the 11th minute Sinclair tallied her 72nd career goal, following sophomore forward Natalie Budge’s header attempt which ricocheted off the cross bar.

Rapinoe capped the scoring in the 33rd minute on a brilliant sequence. Senior defender Kelsy Hollenbeck made a run down the right sideline and sent a cross to Budge just inside the penalty box. Budge back-heeled the ball off the fly to an unmarked Rapinoe for an easy header finish at the far post.

"It was nice to get that first goal early and get the jitters out of the way," Rapinoe said. "It was all down hill from there. Scoring goals is easy when you get set up with great passing and I was on the end of some incredible assists today."

Despite coming away with a quality 3-0 result, the Pilots missed on several other scoring opportunities and were denied by either the post or crossbar on three occasions. In the 12th minute, Sinclair nearly tallied her second goal but hit the wrong side of the right post. Rapinoe struck the crossbar in the 19th minute and sophomore midfielder Angie Woznuk missed a penalty kick in the 56th minute off the bar.

The Pilots tallied 10 shots each half and put seven shots on goal for the match compared to Stanford’s two attempts on goal. UP junior goalie Cori Alexander was forced to make a diving tip save in the first half on a bullet from Cardinal midfielder Leah Tapscott, but was unchallenged thereafter in recording her 22nd career shutout.

The attendance figure was the highest total since September 9, 1997 when the Pilots and Notre Dame drew 5,041 fans.

"There is no crowd in the country like this," said junior defender Kari Evans. "They give us so much energy and make it so difficult on opposing teams. It’s unbelievable."

"You can’t not notice (the fan support)," Rapinoe added. "I think that I heard the drum squad practicing yesterday and today across campus. What an amazing experience."

Portland next travels to in-state rival Oregon, for a 7 p.m. match at Pape Field on Wednesday, Aug. 30.