PORTLAND PILOTS (7-4-0, 0-0-0 WCC)
WEEK 7: at San Diego / BYU
 
San Diego Toreros (4-4-1, 0-0-0 WCC)
Day: Thursday
Date: Sept. 27, 2018
Time: 7:00 PM
Place: San Diego, Calif.
Pitch: Torero Stadium
Video: PortlandPilots.com
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. USD
Overall Series: 16-7-2
H: 7-4-1  •  A: 8-3-1 •  N: 1-0-0
Last: USD 1, @POR 0 (10/26/2017)
 
Brigham Young Cougars (5-3-1, 0-0-0 WCC)
Day: Saturday
Date: Sept. 29, 2018
Time: 6:00 PM
Place: Provo, Utah
Pitch: South Field
Video: PortlandPilots.com
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. BYU
Overall Series: 4-8-0
H: 1-4-0  •  A: 0-4-0  •  N: 3-0-0
Last: BYU 1, @POR 0 (10/28/2017)
 
THIS WEEK
• The Pilots open play in the West Coast Conference with a challenging road trip as they head to San Diego on Thursday night and Brigham Young on Saturday night.
• Kickoff with the Toreros at Torero Stadium in San Diego, Calif., on Thursday is set for 7 p.m., while Saturday's match with the BYU Cougars at South Field in Provo, Utah, is scheduled for 6 p.m. (Pacific).
• Links to a live stream and live stats for both games can be found at PortlandPilots.com.
 
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots won their final two non-conference contests by a 1-0 margin, first winning at North Dakota on Friday afternoon before defeating Seattle on Sunday at Merlo Field.
• Against the Fighting Hawks in East Grand Forks, Minn., the Pilots overcame a brutal day of travel to register the road win.
• Taryn Ries scored the game's only goal when she finished with a header on a corner from Larkin Russell in the 68th minute.
• The Pilots and Redhawks needed overtime on Sunday where Jasmine Garibay provided the game-winner with her first career goal in the 93rd minute.
• Senior goalkeeper Rachel Lusby combined for 11 saves during the two shutouts to earn WCC Player of the Week honors.
 
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots have produced three straight shutouts and have not allowed a goal for 285 consecutive minutes.
• Six of Portland's seven wins have been shutouts.
• The Pilots are the No. 1 team defensively in the West Coast Conference, leading the league in fewest goals allowed (7), goals against average (0.63), and shutouts (6).
• Following Portland's two shutouts last week, senior keeper Rachel Lusby was named the WCC's Player of the Week after totaling 11 saves against North Dakota and Seattle.
• She also landed Honorable Mention National Team of the Week accolades from Top Drawer Soccer.
• Lusby, who has played every minute in goal this season, leads the WCC goals against average (0.63), save percentage (.844) and shutouts (6); she's tied for 10th nationally in clean sheets.
• Lusby now has 16 career shutouts, which ranks eighth all-time at UP; she's also No. 1 all-time at UP in career saves per game (4.02), she's tied for third in overall career saves (197), and her career save percentage of .794 ranks ninth.
• Lusby's 5.05 saves per game in 2017 are an all-time program single season record, while her 96 total saves missed matching a program record by one.
• Sophomore midfielder/forward Taryn Ries has scored a goal in six of the last seven games and ranks third in the conference in both goals (6) and game-winners (3); she's tied for No. 22 nationally in game-winners.
• The weekend of Sept. 7-9 The Pilots won the 2018 Nike Portland Invitational at Merlo Field, while Larkin Russell and Natalie Muth were named the tournament's offensive and defensive MVP's, respectively.
• Both Portland and Washington picked up two wins at the Invite, over Utah Valley and UC Irvine, but the Pilots claimed the team title via goal differential (4-1 to 4-2)
• Russell, who had two assists during the 2-1 win over Utah Valley and the game-winner in the 2-0 shutout over UC Irvine was named the West Coast Conference Player of the Week following the weekend.
• Russell was Portland's first league player of the week since Rachel Lusby nabbed the award in September of 2016.
• The Pilots opened the season with two straight shutout wins (2-0 vs. NAU & 1-0 vs. SJSU) for the first time since 2009.
• Portland didn't allow a goal for the first 250 minutes of the season before Washington found the back of the net against the Pilots in the 71st minute on Sunday, Aug. 26.
• During the season opener on Friday, Aug. 17, the Pilots allowed just one shot in their 2-0 win over the Northern Arizona Lumberjacks at Merlo Field; the one shot allowed was the fewest given up by the Pilots since San Diego also attempted one shot on Oct. 1, 2015, which happened to be a 1-0 win for the Toreros in Portland.
• The Pilots are under the guidance of first-year head coach Michelle French, a Portland alum who was hired to take the reins of the program in December.
• French is the sixth head coach in program history, dating back to 1980, and she's just the third for the Pilots in the last 29 years.
• French came to The Bluff after spending the past 12 years coaching in the U.S. Soccer system, most recently as an assistant coach with the Senior Women's National Team.
• With the Pilots, French (1995-98) was an All-American defender, a four-year starter, and a finalist for National Player of the Year as a senior in 1998; she led the Pilots to three NCAA Final Four appearances as a player, including the NCAA title game in 1995.
• Joining French on the staff are assistant coaches Dominic Doty and Maite Zabala, volunteer assistant coach Rachael Rapinoe, and Director of Operations Elli Reed.
• Doty, who's a native of nearby McMinnville, was previously the head assistant coach at San Jose State.
• Zabala is a heralded goalkeeper coach who came to UP from Boise State.
• Rapinoe is a UP alum who was a member of the 2005 National Championship team.
• Reed, who is also a Portland alum, recently retired following a lengthy pro career, which ended with a five-year stint with the Seattle Reign in the NWSL.
• Senior goalkeeper Rachel Lusby landed all-league honorable mention in 2017, while junior forward Kimberly Hazlett was named to the All-WCC Second Team.
• Hazlett landed on the 2018 All-WCC Preseason Team, which is the second straight year to earn that distinction.
• Portland has a strong and proud women's soccer tradition and is one of just four programs to win multiple NCAA Championships in the sport (2002, 2005).
• The Pilots have made eight Final Four appearances (1994-96, 1998, 2000-02, 2005) and they've won 13 WCC Championships.
• The Pilots have advanced to the post-season during 21 of the past 26 seasons.
• The Pilots led the nation in attendance for 10 consecutive seasons (2005-14).
 
ABOUT THE OPPONENTS
• The San Diego Toreros are 4-4-1 on the year and are coming off a 2-1 loss at UCI.
• San Diego has outscored its opponents 17-13 and are led by senior midfielder Milan Moses, who has a team-best seven goals; Moses recorded a hat trick recently during a 3-1 win over Cal State Fullerton.
• Junior keeper Amber Michel has a GAA of 1.32, a save percentage of .810, and she's claimed two shutouts.
• Louise Lieberman is in her second year at the helm of the USD program.
• The BYU Cougars (5-3-1) have won four of their last five matches and most recently defeated Utah Valley 3-1 at home.
• The Cougars feature the nation's No. 20 offense, averaging 2.56 goals per game, and 11 Cougars have found the back of the net, led by junior forward Elise Flake with five.
• BYU has used three keepers, with junior Sabrina Macias Davis getting the majority of the minutes; she has a GAA of 1.37 and a .704 save percentage, and the Cougars have posted three shutouts.
• Jennifer Rockwood is in her 24th year as head coach at BYU, and she's guided the Cougars to the NCAA tournament in 17 of 22 seasons.