“It was a scrappy weekend and with such a young roster it was great to get two quality results,” Portland head coach Garrett Smith said. “Neither game was particularly pretty to watch, but we got what we needed out of the trip.”

Sophomore Sara Jackman came off the bench for the second match in a row to record a second half goal, while freshmen Michelle Olivier and Danielle Foxhoven also contributed strikes.

Sophomore Sophie Schmidt started the scoring on the first shot of the match when she tallied her second goal of the season for Portland in the third minute. The sequence built up from the midfield as senior All-American Megan Rapinoe found freshman Charney Burk on the right side. Burk sent a short cross to Schmidt who clinically finished inside the left post from 10 yards out.

The lead was short-lived as Penn State mounted a series of counter attacks that eventually led to the equalizer. After a Portland corner kick was cleared towards midfield, PSU striker Danielle Toney split a pair of Pilot defenders and was left with only Pilot goalie Kelsey Davis to beat, but Davis was up to the task with her first of six saves on the day. Seconds later, PSU’s Carley Niness headed a corner kick that appeared goal-bound, but Davis tipped it away. The Nittany Lions finally got one past Davis a few seconds later when Toney gathered a cross from Niness, turned, and then fired a shot that Davis tipped but the ball managed to crawl over the goal line inside the right post.

Olivier provided the eventual game-winner off a corner kick in the 19th minute on the second assist from Rapinoe in the match. Rapinoe’s service found an unmarked Oliver at the far post and she snuck it inside the left post from close range past diving Nittany Lions’ goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher.

Portland went up 3-1 in the 65th minute as Jackman again provided a boost off the bench. This time she ran onto a nice cross from junior Michelle Enyeart and finished with a firm shot into the right side netting of the goal. The play was set up when Burk found Foxhoven who one-touched the ball out wide to a streaking Enyeart. The sequence was vintage Pilot style, with ball control and possession leading to the score.

The Pilots added the final strike in the 79th minute when Enyeart made another great run down the right side and set up a sitter for Foxhoven in front of the goal. It was the fourth time this season that Enyeart assisted on a Foxhoven goal and the freshman’s team-leading 11th goal already this year.

Both teams had many other scoring chances, most notably late in the first period when Enyeart blasted a shot from 20 yards off the crossbar. PSU’s Katie Schoepfer also had a shot go off the right post late in the first stanza.

The Nittany Lions thought they had a second goal late in regulation when an indirect free kick from 35 yards managed to go slice through all the attacking players and defenders before sneaking inside the right post, but the goal was disallowed because it was not a direct free kick.

Portland gained a 17-12 edge in shots for the match and 10-7 margin in shots on goal.

Davis and the Pilots saw their shutout streak come to an end after 697 minutes, but have surrendered just three goals through 10 matches this season.

“When Kelsey is tested, she comes up big and today was a prime example,” Smith noted. “She is a big-game player and she rose to the occasion all weekend long under difficult circumstances with the wet weather.”

Enyeart and sophomore teammate Elli Reed missed Friday’s match at Rutgers while attending a USA Under-20 National Team camp in Florida. The duo returned to the team late Saturday and both came off the bench against the Nittany Lions.

“It was good to have everybody available today and Michelle and Elli provided a big lift off the bench,” Smith said. “I feel like the team is in a good place right now.”

Portland returns home for its final nonconference home match of 2008 when it hosts Northwest rival Washington (No. 21, Soccer Buzz) on Friday, Oct. 3 at 4:30 p.m. That contest will be the first of a doubleheader with the Pilot men, who take on Santa Clara at 7 p.m.

NOTES: With her two assists, Michelle Enyeart moved into a tie for ninth place on the UP career charts with 28. She is also ninth in career scoring with 94 points (33g, 28a) … PSU goalie Alyssa Naeher also attended the USA Under-20 National Team training camp this week and played all 90 minutes on Sunday.