#15 PORTLAND PILOTS (11-2-3, 3-2-1 WCC)
Week 12: vs. No. 5 Saint Mary's
No. 5 Saint Mary's (16-0-1, 5-0-1 WCC)
Day: Saturday
Date: Nov. 10, 2018
Time: 7:00 p.m.
City: Portland, Ore.
Pitch: Merlo Field
Live Video: PortlandPilots.com
Live Stats: PortlandPilots.com
POR vs. SMC
Overall Series: 26-13-4
H: 15-6-0 •
A: 10-7-4 •
N: 1-0-0
Last: @SMC 3, POR 2 (11/11/2017)
THIS WEEK
• The No. 15 Pilots conclude the regular season this weekend with a big-time West Coast Conference match against No. 5 and undefeated Saint Mary's at Merlo Field.
• Kickoff with the Gaels, who have already clinched the league title, is set for 7 p.m.
• The Pilots will celebrate Senior Night on Saturday, and they'll honor Shane Aranda, Malcolm Dixon, Lionel Mills, Brennan Weber, and Kienan Weekes with a pre-game ceremony.
• Links for a live stream and live stats can be found at PortlandPilots.com.
LAST WEEK
• After the Pilots took a 1-nil lead in the second half, the Pacific Tigers scored three goals in less than three minutes before holding on for a 3-2 win in Stockton, Calif., on Saturday night.
• Freshman Jake Arteaga scored both of Portland's goals, which came in the 63rd and 77th minutes; Arteaga has three goals in the last two games.
• Jonathan Jimenez claimed the hat trick for the Tigers.
THANK YOU SENIORS
• Saturday night marks the final regular season appearance at Merlo Field for Portland's five seniors, and the Pilots will honor Shane Aranda, Malcolm Dixon, Lionel Mills, Brennan Weber, and Kienan Weekes with a pre-game ceremony.
• This group played an integral role in the historic turnaround of men's soccer on The Bluff, which included a WCC title and a trip to the NCAA Playoffs in 2016.
• Aranda is a midfielder with two career assists in 49 appearances, and Dixon has amassed five goals and four assists since coming to Portland in 2016.
• Mills has been an anchor in Portland's backline for the past four years, and Weber is the ultimate teammate, making eight career appearances.
• Weekes took over in goal for the Pilots this season and has flourished, claiming four solo shutouts, a 0.98 goals against average, and a .732 save percentage.
ABOUT THE PILOTS...
• The Pilots are one of only 11 teams in the country with two or fewer losses, and they were one of the last two remaining teams in the country without a loss before succumbing to USF in San Francisco on Oct. 26.
• The Pilots didn't suffer their first loss of the season until their 14th match, which is the longest unbeaten streak to start a year since 1995.
• The 13-match unbeaten string is also the longest for the Pilots since that '95 team went 14 games without a blemish.
• The 10-0-3 open to the season ranks as the program's third best start ever, behind only 1995 and the 1988 squad.
• The 1988 team, led by legendary goalkeeper Kasey Keller, own the program's best start ever as they won their first 21 games before succumbing to Indiana in the College Cup Semifinals.
• After reaching a season-best No. 7 ranking in the United Soccer Coaches Poll, the Pilots sit at No. 15 in this week's ranking; they entered the rankings in week three of the season and have stayed there since.
• Portland features the No. 14 offense in the country, averaging 2.06 goals per game.
• The Pilots have battled through significant injuries, including to key players Rey Ortiz and Benji Michel, who were both named to the Mac Hermann Trophy Preseason Watch List.
• Benji Michel started the season by scoring a goal in six straight games.
• Michel's goal streak was the longest to begin a season for a Pilot since at least 2001.
• Despite missing some time and playing limited minutes, Michel still ranks third nationally with six game-winners; he's also No. 22 in goals per game (0.67).
• The junior forward landed Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week Honorable Mention following his one goal, one assist performance at Gonzaga, and he was previously the Top Drawer Soccer National Player of the Week (Oct. 1) and WCC Player of the Week after providing two game-winners and an assist as the Pilots won at Coastal Carolina and defeated Northern Illinois at home.
• Gio Magana-Rivera, who had an assist at Coastal Carolina and two against NIU, also landed Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week Honorable Mention accolades after the Pilots went 2-0 against the No. 24 Chanticleers and Huskies.
• Redshirt-senior goalkeeper Kienan Weekes nabbed WCC Player of the Week honors after the Pilots shutout the No. 9 Washington Huskies 1-0 on Sept. 14.
• It was the first conference honor for Weekes, who also landed on the Top Drawer Soccer Team of the Week earlier this season when he registered his first career shutout with five saves during a 1-0 win over UCSB on Aug. 31.
• Weekes made a career-best six saves against the Huskies.
• Rey Ortiz was named to Top Drawer Soccer's National Team of the Week (Sept. 10) after registering a goal and an assist during a 4-1 win over Jacksonville.
• Portland ranks seventh nationally in attendance.
• The Pilots were selected by the league's eight coaches to finish second in the West Coast Conference behind Pacific.
• Rey Ortiz ranked second nationally last season in assists per game (0.76) and he was third in total assists with 13; his 13 assists missed matching a program record by one.
• Ortiz also had six goals to lead the WCC with 25 points.
• Following the 2017 season, Ortiz was named to Top Drawer Soccer's Best XI Second Team, nabbed all-region honors, and landed on the All-WCC First Team.
• Michel, who earned WCC All-First Team and all-regional honors last season, made history when he registered a hat trick during the first 26 minutes of a 6-0 win over Fairfield (Aug. 27); the hat trick was the first at Merlo Field since UP's Alejandro Salazar accomplished the feat in 2003.
• Portland's newcomers were ranked as the No. 3 class in the nation, according to Top Drawer Soccer.
• Freshman midfielder Jake Arteaga was named to Top Drawer Soccer's Preseason Best XI Freshman Team.
• Head coach Nick Carlin-Voigt is in his third year at the helm of the Pilots, and in his first year on The Bluff he led Portland to an improbable turn-around en route to the 2016 WCC title and an NCAA Playoff berth.
• It was the program's first WCC Championship since 2002, and it was their first trip to the NCAA postseason since 2009.
• In 2016 Carlin-Voigt became the program's first WCC Coach of the Year since Clive Charles in 2002.
• Carlin-Voigt, who came to The Bluff from UCLA during the winter of 2016, was named one of the Top 10 American Coaches under 40 by Top Drawer Soccer in 2017.
• 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 OPPONENTS
• The Saint Mary's Gaels clinched the West Coast Conference championship last weekend, the program's second league title ever (2011).
• The Gaels feature the number one offense in the country, scoring 2.82 goals per game, and their shutout percentage of .706 ranks second.
• Saint Mary's has outscored opponents by a remarkable 48-8 margin, seven Gaels have multiple goals, and junior forward Jake Rudel leads the WCC and ranks seventh nationally with 13 goals; junior Anders Engebretsen has eight goals and a team-best six assists.
• Junior keeper Remi Prieur is No. 2 in the nation in both shutouts (11) and save percentage (.867), and he's fourth in goals against average (0.46).
• 13th-year head coach Adam Cooper is the winningest coach in program history.
