PORTLAND PILOTS (11-3-1, 5-0-0 WCC)
WEEK 11: at No. 6 Denver / at Pacific
 
No. 6 Denver Pioneers (14-0-3, 5-0-1 Summit)
Day: Thursday
Date: Nov. 3, 2016
City: Denver, Colo.
Time: 6:00 PM (Pacific)
Pitch: CIBER Field
Video: DenverPioneers.com
Stats: DenverPioneers.com
 
POR vs. DU
Overall Series: 1-3-2
H: 0-2-1  •  A: 0-1-0  •  N: 1-0-1
Last: @POR 0, DU 0 (2ot) (10/24/2015)
 
Pacific Tigers (11-3-1, 3-1-1 WCC)
Day: Sunday
Date: Nov. 6, 2016
City: Stockton, Calif.
Time: 1:00 PM
Pitch: Knoles Field
Video: TheW.tv
Stats: PacificTigers.com
 
POR vs. PAC
Overall Series: 3-2-0
H: 2-0-0  •  A: 1-2-0  •  N: 0-0-0
Last: @POR 2, PAC 1 (11/8/2015)
 
THIS WEEK
• The Pilots face a pair of challenging games on the road as they look to clinch their first West Coast Conference title since 2002.
• First Portland will be in Denver, Colo., on Thursday night for a non-conference game with the No. 6 Denver Pioneers at 6 p.m. (Pacific); the Pioneers are one of two remaining unbeaten teams in the country.
• And then on Sunday, the first-place Pilots, who have won seven straight, can clinch the WCC crown when they face the Pacific Tigers at 1 p.m. in Stockton, Calif.
 
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots swept two WCC opponents at home, both shutouts, to run their winning streak to seven straight and remain a perfect 5-0-0 in the league.
• First on Friday, Portland's Erik Edwardson scored the game-winner on a nice through ball from Eddie Sanchez in the 83rd minute to hand the Pilots a key 1-0 win over LMU at Merlo Field; goalkeeper Paul Christensen made three clutch saves against the Lions.
• Christensen made three more saves Sunday against San Diego to record his third straight shutout, and freshmen Benji Michel and Rey Ortiz both scored two goals as the Pilots cruised to a 4-0 win.
• Christensen was named the WCC's Player of the Week following the weekend.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS...
• The Pilots have won seven straight games, which is the program's longest winning streak since 1995.
• Portland has recorded three straight shutouts and have not allowed a goal in a little more than 270 minutes.
• The first-place Pilots are 5-0-0 in the WCC, which matches the legendary 1988 Portland squad for the best start to a conference schedule.
• With 15 points in the league, the Pilots can clinch the WCC crown with a win or a tie on Sunday over second-place Pacific (10 points); the Pilots last won a WCC championship in 2002.
• Portland at 11-3-1 overall also has the program's best record after 15 games since 1995.
• The Pilots rank fifth in the nation in goals per game (2.27), are 8th in total points (76), and are 10th in total goals (34).
• Freshman Benji Michel ranks 16th nationally in goals per game (0.67), is 18th in total goals (10), is 22nd in points per game (1.53) and is 24th in total points (23); he ranks first in the WCC in all four categories; he was named to Top Drawer Soccer's Team of the Week (Oct. 17) and was tabbed the No. 24 freshman in the country by Top Drawer Soccer.
• Senior Eddie Sanchez is 24th in the country and first in the WCC in total assists (7), and he's 25 nationally in assists per game (0.47).
• Portland currently sits just outside the NSCAA Top 25, and the Pilots are ranked No. 22 in the latest Top Drawer Soccer rankings.
• During a recent four-game stretch (Sept. 22 - Oct. 14) the Pilots scored 15 goals, which was the most goals scored during a four-game span since Portland collected 17 goals over four contests in 1999.
• With two shutouts last weekend over LMU and USD, junior goalkeeper Paul Christensen was named the WCC's Player of the Week.
• Sanchez, who had three assists during the two wins, landed on Top Drawer Soccer's National Team of the Week for the third time this season.
• Sanchez was the WCC Player of the Week (Oct. 10) for the second time this season after notching a hat trick at Gonzaga on Sunday, Oct. 9; he also landed on Top Drawer Soccer's Team of the Week for a second time.
• Sanchez's hat trick is the first for a Pilot since teammate Brandon Zambrano accomplished the feat in 2014.
• Sanchez had quite the weekend in Evansville, Ind. (Sept. 9-11), scoring two goals and ending up on SportsCenter as the Pilots won the 2016 ProRehab Aces Classic.
• Sanchez also was named the WCC's Player of the Week, he nabbed the tourney's offensive MVP award and he was voted to Top Drawer Soccer's Team of the Week.
• Center back Lionel Mills was the ProRehab Ace's Classic Defensive MVP, and both he and Sanchez were joined on the all-tourney team by Benji Michel and Matthew Coffey.
• Previously, the Pilots were co-champions at the 2016 Nike Invitational (Sept. 2-4), and Coffey was named the tournament's defensive MVP.
• Coffey, Erik Edwardson, Paul Christensen and Geoffrey Dunn were all named to Nike Invitational's All-Tournament Team.
• The Pilots are under the guidance of first-year head coach Nick Carlin-Voigt, who was hired to lead the program in January; Carlin-Voigt spent the past four years as the associate head coach for the UCLA Bruins.
• With the Bruins, he helped put together the nation's number one recruiting class in 2013, 2014 and 2015, and in 2014 he helped lead the Bruins to the No. 1 ranking nationally and to the NCAA College Cup Championship.
• Joining Carlin-Voigt on the bench are first-year assistant coaches Leonard Griffin, who came with Carlin-Voigt from UCLA, and UP alum Logan Emory, who spent time with Toronto FC of the MLS after graduating from Portland in 2009.
• Volunteer assistant coach Emerson De Oliveira and undergraduate assistant coach Steven Evans, a former Pilot standout, complete the staff.
• Portland features a group of nine newcomers, who were tabbed as the No. 17 recruiting class in the nation by Top Drawer Soccer.
• The Pilots claim renowned men's soccer alums Kasey Keller, Steve Cherundolo, Conor Casey, Nate Jaqua, Heath Pearce, and reigning MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Luis Robles.
 • In 1988, legendary coach Clive Charles led Keller and the Pilots to the school's first ever NCAA College Cup.
• Portland has been to two NCAA College Cups ('88 & '95) and has made 14 trips to the NCAA Postseason.
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
• The Pioneers rank sixth in the country and are one of two remaining unbeaten teams in the country; Denver is currently on a 34-match regular season unbeaten streak dating back to Halloween Night, 2014.
• DU has outscored opponents 28-8, junior forward Blake Elder has a team-best seven goals, and senior midfielder Sam Hamilton leads the team with seven assists; sophomore GK Nick Gardner has 10 shutouts and a GAA of 0.48.
• 2015 Summit League Coach of the Year Jamie Franks is in his second year at Denver.
• Pacific, which was selected eighth in the WCC preseason poll, sits just behind the Pilots at No. 23 in the Top Drawer Soccer poll.
• Senior Julio Cervantes has eight goals and three assists, while junior keeper Curtis Goldsmith has four blank sheets and GAA of 0.91.
• Ryan Jorden is in his third year at the helm of the Tigers after the program was reinstated at the NCAA DI level in 2014.