PORTLAND PILOTS (11-5-1, 5-1-0 WCC)
WEEK 12: vs. Saint Mary's
Saint Mary's Gaels (8-7-3, 4-2-0 WCC)
Day: Saturday
Date: Nov. 12, 2016
City: Portland, Ore.
Time: 7:00 PM
Pitch: Merlo Field
TV: CSN-NW
Video: TheW.tv
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
POR vs. SMC
Overall Series: 25-12-4
H: 14-6-0 •
A: 10-6-4 •
N: 1-0-0
Last: @SMC 2, POR 0 (11/14/2015)
THIS WEEK
• The Pilots enter their West Coast Conference regular season finale at Merlo Field on Saturday night against Saint Mary's with a chance to clinch their first league title since 2002.
• Kickoff is at 7 p.m., and a win gives Portland the WCC crown and an automatic berth into the NCAA Playoffs.
• The game is a blackout, and fans are asked to wear black to the game, joining the Pilots in their black uniforms.
• The match will also be broadcast live on Comcast SportsNet in the Portland area, and online on TheW.tv.
WCC TITLE SCENARIOS
• The Pilots control their own destiny and currently sit in first place in the West Coast Conference with 15 points and a 5-1-0 record.
• Win, and the Pilots clinch the league title and the WCC's automatic berth to the NCAA Postseason.
• The Pilots could also win the title with a tie, depending on second-place Pacific's (4-1-1, 13 points) outcome earlier Saturday evening at Gonzaga; if the Tigers top the Bulldogs, the Pilots have to defeat the Gaels to clinch the crown.
• The third-place Gaels (4-2-0, 12 points) are also still alive in the race for the WCC crown, but they'd need to top the Pilots and have Pacific lose.
LAST WEEK
• Portland faced a challenging road trip last week, first playing at No. 6 Denver on Thursday night in a non-conference fixture.
• The Pilots scored first, courtesy a goal from Gio Magana-Rivera in the 37th minute, but DU's Andre Shinyashiki scored the equalizer just before the half before tallying the game-winner in the 108th minute.
• The loss snapped Portland's seven-game winning streak, and the win extended Denver's regular season unbeaten string to 35 straight.
• Pacific then overcame the Pilots 1-0 in a WCC match on Sunday in Stockton, Calif.
ABOUT THE PILOTS...
• Saturday night is senior night, and the Pilots will honor their nine seniors with a pre-game ceremony.
• The Pilots, who have won the WCC five times, are going after their first league title since 2002.
• Portland has been to two NCAA College Cups ('88 & '95) and has made 14 trips to the NCAA Postseason, most recently in 2009.
• The Pilots' recent seven-game winning streak was the program's longest winning streak since 1995.
• Prior to last weekend, Portland had recorded three straight shutouts, which included a string of not allowing a goal for 315 consecutive minutes.
• Portland's 5-0-0 start to the WCC slate matched the legendary 1988 Portland squad for the best start to a conference schedule ever.
• Portland's 11-3-1 record after 15 games was their best start to a season since 1995.
• The Pilots rank sixth in the nation in goals per game (2.06), are 19th in points per game (5.47) and rank 13th in total goals (35)
• Freshman Benji Michel ranks 23rd nationally in points per game (1.41), is 24th in total points (24) and is 25th in total goals (10); he ranks first in the WCC in all three categories.
• Michel was named to Top Drawer Soccer's Team of the Week (Oct. 17) and was tabbed the No. 24 freshman in the country, also by Top Drawer Soccer.
• Portland is receiving votes in 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 over LMU and USD during the weekend of Oct. 28-30, 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.
• 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's nine newcomers 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.
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
• The Gaels have won three straight to keep their WCC title hopes alive.
• Saint Mary's has out-scored their opponents 27-23 and freshmen Anders Engebretsen and Joseph Restani both have a team-high four goals; junior keeper Andrew Konstantino has played most of the minutes in goal, claiming a shutout and a 1.36 GAA.
• Adam Cooper, who's in his 11th season at SMC, is the winningest coach in program history.
