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#18 PORTLAND PILOTS (4-1-0)
vs. #21 NOTRE DAME FIGHTING IRISH (3-2-0)
Date: Friday, September 7, 2012
Location: Portland, Ore.
Kick-off: 7:00 p.m.
Stadium: Merlo Field (4,892)
Live Video/Audio: PilotsVideo.com
Live Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. ND
Overall Series: 4-7-0
Here: 1-2-0
There: 1-1-0
Neutral: 2-4-0
Last: @POR 3, ND 1 - 11/26/05 (NCAA Quarterfinals)
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS...
• The Pilots have posted three straight shutout wins after going 2-0 last weekend at the Husky/Nike Invitational in Seattle, Wash.
• On Friday, Amanda Frisbie scored four goals during a 5-0 win over Fresno State; Frisbie was named the tournament’s Offensive MVP, and she’s the WCC Co-Player of the Week.
• On Sunday, Kendall Johnson tallied the game-winner as the Pilots defeated No. 22 La Salle 3-0 to earn the tournament title.
• The Pilots have allowed only one goal this season (0.20 GAA), outscoring their opponents 11-1 in five games.
• Ellen Parker, who scored the game-winner against North Carolina on Aug. 17, was named the first WCC Player of the Week (Aug. 20) of the 2012 season.
• Portland received one first place vote and was chosen to finish fifth this season in the WCC Preseason Poll of the league’s nine head coaches.
• Capelle, a junior forward who was a First-Team All-WCC selection as a sophomore last fall, was voted to the 2012 Preseason All-WCC Team.
• The Pilots have advanced to at least the second round of the NCAA playoffs for 12 straight years.
• Portland won the NCAA National Championship in 2002 and in 2005, and the Pilots will be celebrating the 10-year anniversary of their first national title this fall.
• Head coach Garrett Smith has been named the WCC Coach of the Year five times.

MILITARY APPRECIATION NIGHT
• Portland will be celebrating Military Appreciation Night on Friday when the Pilots host Notre Dame at Merlo Field.
• UP will offer a special $5 ticket deal for active and retired military, which must be purchased at the box office.
• There will also be free activities for the kids, and a lot more!
 
“HAM BONE”
• During Portland’s 5-0 win last Friday in Seattle, junior forward Amanda Frisbie became the 16th player in program history to score four goals in one game.
• The last to accomplish the feat was Danielle Foxhoven against USF on Oct. 25, 2009.
• Frisbie was named the Husky/Nike Invitational’s Offensive MVP following her performance, and she was tabbed as the WCC Co-Player of the Week, was named a Primetime Performer by CollegeSoccer360 and landed on the Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week.
• The five-goal margin was the largest for the Pilots since a 9-0 win over UT-San Antonio in the opening round of the 2010 playoffs, a game in which Frisbie recorded her first career hat trick as a freshman.
STINGY
• Portland’s defense has been downright nasty so far, allowing a conference-low one goal through five games for a goals against average of 0.20.
• The Pilots have also registered three straight shutouts, which is the longest such streak since UP posted six straight blank sheets in 2010.
• In Portland’s one loss, a 1-0 setback to Oregon State on Aug. 20, the Pilots out-shot the Beavers 9-3, and just one of OSU’s shots was on-goal.
• Junior goalkeeper Erin Dees was named to the Top Drawer Soccer Player of the Week after registering a shutout against North Carolina to open the season.
• Redshirt-sophomore keeper Nichole Downing started both games at the Husky/Nike Invitational in Seattle last weekend, making seven saves en route to a pair of shutouts.
 
THAT’S A LOT OF PEOPLE!!
• 4,912 fans crammed into Merlo Field on Aug. 24 to watch the Pilots blank their in-state rival Oregon 2-0.
• The capacity crowd was treated to a game-winner from Micaela Capelle in the third minute, and a post-game fireworks show immediately followed the win.
• It’s the first capacity crowd at Merlo this season, and Portland is averaging 3,778 fans through three home games.
 
SPEAKING OF THE COUNTRY’S #1 FANS...
• The Portland Pilots women’s soccer team led the nation in attendance for the seventh straight year after averaging 3,110 fans per game at Merlo Field last fall.
• UP has topped the 30,000-fan plateau for seven straight years as well, and Portland was the only school in the country to average more than 3,000 fans per game in 2011.
• UP owns the NCAA record for attendance in a season when 47,082 fans attended Portland women’s soccer games in 2008.
• The Pilots have topped the 40,000-fan mark three times (2008-10) and have reached that figure four times overall, which is the most in the country.
 
WEEKLY ACCOLADES
• Ellen Parker, who scored the game-winner in Portland’s 1-0 win over No. 4 North Carolina on Friday, Aug. 17, was named the first West Coast Conference Player of the Week (Aug. 20) for the 2012 season.
• Parker was also tabbed as a Primetime Player by CollegeSoccer360.com and landed on Soccer America’s Team of the Week.
• Amanda Frisbie became the second Pilot to earn conference weekly honors when she was named the WCC’s Co-Player of the Week on Sept. 4.
 
LONDON CALLING
• The 2012 London Summer Olympics were a historic event for the University of
Portland as alums Megan Rapinoe, Christine Sinclair and Sophie Schmidt each left London with some new hardware.
• Rapinoe and the US took gold, while Schmidt, Sinclair and Team Canada claimed the bronze for Canada’s first Olympic medal in women’s soccer.
• When all was said and done, the University of Portland (3) claimed more medals than Greece (2), and UP would have finished ahead of 31 countries in the final medal tally.
 
HAPPY 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY!
• In 2002, under the guidance of legendary coach Clive Charles, the University of Portland won its first NCAA Women’s Soccer National Championship.
• The Pilots, featuring then-freshman Christine Sinclair, capped a cinderella season by defeating conference foe Santa Clara 2-1 in the national title game in double overtime.
• UP will be celebrating the 10-year anniversary of its first national title with a reunion during the Pilots’ game against San Diego State at Merlo Field on Oct. 7.
 
PRE-SEASON ALL-AWESOME
• Junior forward Micaela Capelle was selected to the 2012 Preseason All-West Coast Conference Team, while the Pilots received one first-place vote and were picked to finish fifth in a preseason poll of the WCC’s nine head coaches.
• Capelle, who was a First-Team All-WCC selection as a sophomore last fall, led the league with five goals during conference play in 2011.
• Capelle also had a team-best seven assists in 2011, and she helped the US U-20 Women’s National Team claim the CONCACAF Championship in Panama last winter, sending the team to the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
 
WELCOME BACK
• Returning for Portland this season is former all-league selection and redshirt-junior defender Kendall Johnson, who missed all of the 2011 season due to an injury.
• A former midfielder, Johnson was named the WCC co-Freshman of the Year in 2010, while also landing on the Soccer America All-Freshman First Team.
• The Portland native entered 2011 with five career goals and six assists.
 
THE BLOGGER
• Speaking of Kendall Johnson, the women’s soccer blog is back, and this year it’s Kendall who is taking on blogging duties for the Pilots.
• Be sure to bookmark PortlandPilots.com/KendallBlog to follow Kendall and the Pilots all season long!
 
GAMECENTRAL IS BACK & BETTER THAN EVER
• UP’s popular GameCentral is back and better than ever, and it’s available for every home game this season.
• GameCentral is a free portal via PortlandPilots.com that offers live video, live audio and live stats all on the same page; you can also access GameCentral directly by visiting PilotsVideo.com.
• The internet broadcast rivals that of any college program in the country and it features a four-camera production, instant replays, in-game interviews and on-screen graphics.
• You can also access UP’s GameCentral via your Smartphone.