#13 PORTLAND PILOTS (7-0-2, 0-0-0 WCC)
Week 6: vs. Northern Illinois
 
Northern Illinois Huskies (7-2-0, 0-0-0 MAC)
Day: Friday
Date: Sept. 28, 2018
Time: 7:00 p.m.
City: Portland, Ore.
Pitch: Merlo Field
Live Video: PortlandPilots.com
Live Stats: PortlandPilots.com
 
POR vs. NIU
Overall Series: 0-2-1
H: 0-0-1  •  A: 0-1-0  •  N: 0-1-0
Last: @NIU 4, POR 0 (9/11/2011)
 
THIS WEEK
• The No. 13 Pilots play their final non-conference game of the season this week when they host the Northern Illinois Huskies on Friday night at Merlo Field.
• Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. with the Huskies, who are No. 13 in the NCAA's RPI rankings and are No. 24 in the Top Drawer Soccer Poll.
• A live stream and live stats for the match can be found at PortlandPilots.com.
 
LAST WEEK
• The Pilots picked up a pair of huge wins, first defeating Oregon State 2-1 at home on Friday before traveling to Charleston, S.C., to claim a victory over No. 24 Coastal Carolina on Monday night by the same margin.
• Against the Beavers, Malcolm Dixon scored his first goal of the season and Benji Michel provided the game-winner in the 80th minute.
• Monday followed a similar script, but this time it was R.J. Stretch who gave the Pilots a lead with his first career goal.
• The Chanticleers equalized, and Michel notched game-winner No. 5 on the year in the 73rd minute.
 
NEXT WEEK
• The Pilots open play in the West Coast Conference next week when they travel to Spokane, Wash., to battle the Gonzaga Bulldogs on Friday, Oct. 6.
• Portland's WCC home opener comes on Oct. 12 when Loyola Marymount visits The Bluff.
• San Diego follows the Lions to Merlo Field on Oct. 12.
 
DYNAMIC DUO EARN PRESEASON HONORS
• Portland juniors Benji Michel and Rey Ortiz both received a handful of preseason honors, including being named to the initial 2018 MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List.
• Portland was one of only two schools (FIU) to have more than one player named to the list, and the trophy is handed out annually to the best collegiate player in the nation.
• Ortiz was also named to Top Drawer Soccer's Preseason Best XI First Team, while Michel landed on the second team, and both were voted to the All-WCC Preseason Team.
 
MORE ABOUT THE PILOTS...
• At 7-0-2 the Pilots are off to the program's best start since 1989.
• The nine-game unbeaten streak is also the longest for the Pilots since 1995 when the team put together 14 games without a loss.
• The Pilots are one of only nine teams in the country who have yet to suffer a loss.
• Benji Michel started the season by scoring a goal in six straight games and he has a goal in eight of Portland's nine matches.
• Michel's goal streak was the longest to begin a season for a Pilot since at least 2001.
• Michel ranks second nationally with five game-winners, he's No. 5 in goals (8), eighth in points (17), 11th in goals per game (0.89), and is No. 14 in points per game (1.89).
• 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 to collect his second clean sheet of the year.
• The Pilots moved up to No. 13 in the most recent United Soccer Coaches' poll, while Top Drawer Soccer has the Pilots ranked 11th.
• Rey Ortiz landed on 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.
• Ortiz's career mark of 0.44 assists per game is tops on the program's all-time list in the modern era (1986-2017).
• The Pilots were selected by the league's eight coaches to finish second in the West Coast Conference behind Pacific.
• Pacific received four first-place votes and totaled 44 overall points, while the Pilots collected two first-place votes and 41 points.
• 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 OPPONENT
• The Northern Illinois Huskies come to Portland with a 7-2-0 overall record, and they've won five games in a row.
• NIU has outscored their opponents 16-9 this season and eight different Huskies have found the back of the net.
• Freshman Nick Markanich has scored a team-best four goals this fall, while senior Kevin Rodriguez ranks sixth in the country with six assists.
• Redshirt-junior goalkeeper Konrad Dziedzic is fourth nationally with five shutouts, and he has a goals against average of 0.75 and a .750 save percentage.
• Ryan Swan is in his second year as head coach at NIU; Swan joined the Huskies after spending eight seasons (2009-16) as the head coach at Drury University.