PORTLAND, Ore. – The Portland Pilots men's soccer team is going dancing! After finishing the regular season with a 10-6-1 record and facing the most challenging schedule of any WCC squad, the Pilots will host the Seattle University Redhawks in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

"I'm super excited for the boys and the 12 seniors," Portland head coach Nick Carlin-Voigt said. "The soccer community, the athletic department, there have been so many people who've played a large role in us having a great regular season and I'm really thankful for all the people that are behind Portland men's soccer. We're ecstatic to be dancing and in the tournament."

"It's a great feeling," Pilot goalkeeper and co-captain George Tasouris said. "We definitely need to get to work right away… Just take it game by game, give everything we have now. We don't play a final when we get to the last game of the NCAA. This is our final right now. Every game is our final."

The Pilots now officially have 17 playoff berths as a Division I program. They've had three appearances in the tournament since 2016, when Carlin-Voigt took over as coach of the Pilots. Carlin-Voigt has put together five winning records in five falls as head coach of the Pilots.

The last time Portland made the tournament was in 2018 when the Pilots defeated the UCLA Bruins 1-0 at home to advance to the second round before falling to the Kentucky Wildcats. The win over UCLA was their first playoff win since 2009 and their first home playoff victory since 2002. In 2016, the Pilots won the WCC and earned the automatic bid, but lost to the New Mexico Lobos in penalty kicks in the first round.

Portland played a quality schedule throughout the regular season. Their RPI is currently 32^nd among NCAA Division I teams and they beat four teams who currently rank in the top 40 in RPI. That's the third-most of any team in a western conference (Pac-12, WCC, Big West and WAC). The Pilots beat UCLA (25^th), the Loyola Marymount Lions (37^th), the Northern Illinois Huskies (23^rd) and Seattle U (31^st). Three of those teams -- UCLA, Northern Illinois and Seattle U -- made the tournament.

"I think we earned it," Carlin-Voigt said about the quality of their schedule. "We had a really good body of work and we couldn't be more excited to host."

The last time the Pilots and Redhawks met earlier this season, Portland came out on top, defeating Seattle U 3-2 to win the Caffe D'Arte Coffee Cup. The Redhawks went 13-7-1 and won the WAC Tournament Title. The match will be set for Thursday, Nov. 18 at 6 p.m.. Check PortlandPilots.com for live stats, video and ticket options.

You can buy tickets for the match here.