PORTLAND PILOTS (8-6-1, 3-1-1 WCC)
Week 11: vs. Gonzaga Bulldogs (6-7-2, 0-4-1 WCC)
Day: Saturday
Date: Nov. 4, 2017
Time: 7:00 p.m.
City: Portland, Ore.
Pitch: Merlo Field
Live Video: TheW.tv
Live Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. GU
Overall Series: 25-12-6
H: 13-5-2  •  A: 11-7-4  •  N: 1-0-0
Last: POR 5, @GU 1 (10/9/2016)
 
THIS WEEK
• The Pilots play their final regular season game of 2017 this weekend when they host the Gonzaga Bulldogs at Merlo Field on Saturday night.
• Kickoff for the Bulldogs and Pilots, who enter the weekend in first place of the West Coast Conference, is set for 7 p.m.
• Saturday is senior night for the Pilots, and they'll honor their seven seniors with a pre-game ceremony.
 
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots split a pair of home games at Merlo Field, starting with a 1-0 win over Santa Clara on Friday night.
• Senior goalkeeper Paul Christensen collected six saves against the Broncos to claim his fifth shutout of the year, and Caua Soares scored his first career game-winner just 29 seconds into the second half.
• The Soares goal was assisted by Rey Ortiz, who picked up another assist on Sunday against the San Francisco Dons, which gives the sophomore 13 on the season.
• The Dons scored an early goal before claiming a 3-1 win.
• Matthew Coffey scored Portland's goal, which at the time leveled the score 1-1 in the 40th minute.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS...
• The Pilots sit on top of the WCC table with 10 points as Portland chases its second straight conference crown.
• Lurking are Pacific and San Francisco, who each have nine points; both Pacific and USF have three games remaining, the Pilots have two, and the Tigers and Dons square off against each other on Wednesday, Nov. 8, in a game previously postponed by wildfires in the Bay Area.
• Sophomore midfielder Rey Ortiz leads the country in overall assists (13) and assists per game (0.87).
• Ortiz's 13 assists are only one shy of matching the single-season program record of 14, which was set by Joe Leonetti in 1991.
• Ortiz's career mark of 0.48 assists per game is tops on the program's all-time list in the modern era (1986-2017).
• Sophomore striker Benji Michel is 17th in the country in goals per game (0.67) and is 20th in total goals (10).
• As a team, the Pilots rank in the top 20 nationally in several statistical categories: assists per game (2.27, No. 8), points per game (6.53, No. 9), goals per game (2.13, No. 9), total assists (34, No. 13), total points (98, No. 17), and total goals (32, No. 18); Portland leads the WCC in each category.
• Rey Ortiz became the second straight Pilot to be named the WCC's Player of the Week on Oct. 9 when he nabbed the award after scoring a goal and producing two assists as the Pilots opened the WCC with a 3-1 win over No. 18 Pacific; Ortiz was also named to Top Drawer Soccer's National Team of the Week.
• Benji Michel earned WCC Player of the Week (Oct. 2) after scoring twice during a 4-1 win over No. 9 and previously unbeaten Western Michigan at Merlo Field on Sept. 29.
• Michel was also the initial WCC Player of the Week (Aug. 28) after a four-goal performance during the opening weekend, which included a first-half hat trick vs. Fairfield; Michel also landed on the Top Drawer Soccer National Team of the Week.
• Benji Michel made history on Sunday (Aug. 27) when he registered a hat trick during the first 26 minutes of a 6-0 win over Fairfield; the hat trick was the first at Merlo Field since UP's Alejandro Salazar accomplished the feat in 2003.
• Jason Romero also tallied a hat trick during the win, which featured the most goals scored by the Pilots since a 6-0 win over Marshall in 2006.
• Senior goalkeeper Paul Christensen has five shutouts this season, giving him 19 in his career, which ranks fifth all-time at UP; he's also fifth all-time with 278 career saves.
• Christensen landed on Top Drawer Soccer's National Team of the Week (Oct. 23) after making five saves during a 3-0 shutout at LMU.
• Michel (31), Ortiz (44), Kris Reaves (78), and Christensen (81) were all recently named to Top Drawer Soccer's Midseason National Top 100 Player Rankings.
• 4,385 fans, which included a remarkable 2,113 students, packed Merlo Field when the Pilots hosted UNLV in their home-opener on Friday, Aug. 25; it's the second largest men's soccer crowd in program history.
• The 2017 recruiting class was ranked fifth in the country by College Soccer News and No. 6 by Top Drawer Soccer.
• Second-year head coach Nick Carlin-Voigt led the Pilots to an improbable turn-around in 2016 as he guided the team to the top of the WCC, a year after a last-place showing.
• Milestones from 2016 include:
        - The 5-0-0 start in the WCC matched the legendary 1988 Portland squad for the best start to a conference schedule in program history.
        - Won first WCC Championship since 2002.
        - Reached NCAA Postseason for first time since 2009.
        - Posted most wins (12) since 2009.
        - 6-1 conference mark is the best since 1989; this came after the program only won one WCC (1-12-1) game the previous two seasons combined.
        - 10th in the country in average attendance (2,298).
        - Nearly swept WCC individual honors, as then-senior Eddie Sanchez was named WCC Player of the Year, Benji Michel was the league's freshman of the year, Paul Christensen was selected as goalkeeper of the year, and Nick Carlin-Voigt was tabbed as the co-coach of the year.
        -Carlin-Voigt was the program's first league coach of the year since Clive Charles in 2002.
• Carlin-Voigt, who came to The Bluff from UCLA during the winter of 2016, was recently named one of the Top 10 American Coaches under 40 by Top Drawer Soccer.
• The Pilots claim renowned men's soccer alums Kasey Keller, Steve Cherundolo, Conor Casey, Nate Jaqua, Heath Pearce, and 2015 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; the Pilots returned to the College Cup in 1995.
• The Pilots have made 15 appearances in the NCAA Postseason all-time, which includes two appearances in the College Cup (1988 & 1995).
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENT
• The Gonzaga Bulldogs earned their first conference point last weekend with a scoreless draw at home with Santa Clara.
• The Bulldogs have scored 18 goals this year, while conceding 20; 10 different players have found the back of the net for Gonzaga
• Senior Christo Michaelson leads Gonzaga with four goals, while senior Ben White has a team-best 11 points on three goals and five assists.
• Redshirt-junior keeper Ben Willis claims a goals against average of 1.28 and a save percentage of .722; Willis and the Zags have recorded four shutouts on the year.
• Long-time head coach Einar Thorarinsson is in his 23rd season at Gonzaga.