PORTLAND PILOTS (5-3-0, 0-0-0 WCC)
Week 5: vs. Washington
#3 Washington Huskies (6-0-0, 0-0-0 Pac-12)
Day: Friday
Date: Sept. 24, 2021
Time: 7:00 PM
Place: Portland, Ore.
Pitch: Merlo Field
TV: KRCW
Video: PortlandPilots.com
Stats: PortlandPilots.com
POR vs. UW
Overall Series: 19-28-4
H: 11-14-1
• A: 8-14-3
• N: 0-0-0
Last: POR 0, @UW 1 (Sept. 29, 2019)
THIS WEEK
• In their final match before starting WCC play, the Portland Pilots will host the No. 3 Washington Huskies here at Merlo Field.
• The match is set for Friday, Sept. 24 with kickoff at 7 p.m.
• Links for live streams and live stats for the match can be found at PortlandPilots.com.
• The match will also be the first Pilot sporting event that will be aired on KRCW.
• Portland's CW can be found on channel 32/1032 on CenturyLink, Xfinity, Dish and DirectTV and onchannels 3/503/703 on Frontier and Xfinity.
PROMOTIONS/TICKETS
•Don't miss out on the biggest match of the season! For tickets to this Friday's match, check out PortlandPilots.com/Tickets.
NEXT WEEK
• The Pilots will officially start conference play the following weekend, traveling to Moraga, Calif. for a match against the Saint Mary's Gaels.
• That match is set for a 1 p.m. kickoff.
• Check PortlandPilots.com for live video and stat options.
ABOUT THE PILOTS
• Portland is 5-3-0 on the year, most recently taking down the Seattle University Redhawks in the second annual Caffé D'Arte Coffee Cup and falling to the CSUN Matadors 1-0 in overtime.
• The Pilots trailed 2-0 against Seattle U with less than five minutes to go in the first half and scored three unanswered goals over the course to win the game.
• The win marked the 50th of head coach Nick Carlin-Voigt's head coaching career.
• Christoforos Kourtis, Sebastian Nava and Wesley Frankel were the three goalscorers on the night for Portland.
• Kourtis and Frankel's goals were the first of their careers while Nava's goal was his second.
• Nava is the first Pilot this year to have multiple goals on the season at two total.
• Goalkeeper George Tasouris earned an assist on the day, becoming the first Pilot goalkeeper to do so since Luis Robles in 2006 and just the sixth in Pilot history.
• The loss against CSUN came off a golden goal in the 97th minute and snapped Portland's four-game winning streak.
• Portland played a man down the majority of the match after Kourtis earned a red card in the 35th minute.
• The Pilots had two players -- Tasouris and defender Kevin Bonilla -- earn some serious recognition for their performance last week.
• Tasouris earned WCC Defensive Player of the Week on Sept. 13 for his role in Portland's 1-0 victory over UCLA.
• Tasouris recorded two saves on the night, including a critical collection in the 89th minute that prevented the Bruins from finding the equalizer.
• Tasouris is tied for first in the WCC in shutouts (4) and third in total saves (26), save percentage (.862) and goals against average (0.74).
• Tasouris was named to the MAC Hermann Trophy Watch List for this season, an award given annually to the top player in college soccer.
• The grad transfer from Cyprus previously dominated in goal for the Grand Canyon Antelopes, earning All-WAC honors all three years and being named the WAC Defensive Player of the Year for the 2020-21 season.
• Bonilla, meanwhile, was named to the TopDrawerSoccer National Team of the Week on Sept. 11 for his performance against UCLA.
• Bonilla scored the game-winnner for the Pilots in the 33rd minute, the first goal of his career.
• The goal gave Portland their first ever regular-season win and first ever road win against UCLA.
• Bonilla is one of the points leaders for the Pilots this season at three points, playing and starting in every match after playing only one match for the Pilots last year.
• The Pilots had two players named to the All-WCC Preseason squad -- senior and sophomore midfielders Jake Arteaga and Nick Fernandez -- and were picked to finish third in the WCC.
• It is the fifth season in a row that the Pilots have been selected to finish in the top three under head coach Nick Carlin-Voigt. The only season where they haven't been picked to do so under Carlin-Voigt is 2016, his first year on The Bluff.
• Arteaga was a strong presence in the midfield for the Pilots last season, earning All-WCC Honorable Mention recognition. He finished with one assist on the year, which he earned in the season opener against George Fox on Feb. 9.
• Fernandez did the same for the Pilots in the midfield, earning All-WCC Second Team honors and All-WCC Freshman Team honors last season. He also earned an assist against George Fox while adding a goal himself.
• The Pilots return seven athletes who earned All-WCC recognition last season: Arteaga, Fernandez, Hendel, Fofanah, Paul Odendahl, Jacopo Viola and Brandon Cambridge
• Midfielder Hendel was the points leader for the Pilots last year with 16, notching a conference-leading seven goals as well as two assists on the year. He was named to the All-WCC Second Team last season.
• Forward Fofanah and midfielder Brandon Cambridge both finished second on the team in total points with 10. Both athletes scored four goals, tallied two assist and made the All-WCC Freshman Team. Fofanah also earned All-WCC Honorable Mention.
• Defender Paul Odendahl and goalkeeper Jacopo Viola both earned All-WCC Honorable Mention recognition after helping the Pilots earn four shutouts in just 10 games.
• Viola was also named the WCC Defensive Player of the Week after helping the Pilots earn a shutout against the then No. 11 Loyola Marymount Lions, who went on to win the WCC. He also earned six saves in the process.
• Portland boasts the No. 2 recruiting class in the nation per TopDrawerSoccer.
• This marks the fifth straight year that Carlin-Voigt has brought in a top 10 recruiting class or better.
• Carlin-Voigt is in his sixth year at the helm of the Pilots.
• 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.
• In 2018, Carlin-Voigt helped the Pilots make the NCAA Tournament and advance to the second round with a thrilling 1-0 over UCLA at Merlo Field. The opening-round win was the first for the Pilots since 2009 and the first home playoff win since 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.
• Joining Carlin-Voigt on the staff is assistant coach Ben Zemanski.
• Zemanski enters the coaching ranks after a lengthy MLS career, which featured a five-year stint and an MLS Cup with the Portland Timbers.
• Former MLS goalkeeper Eric Kronberg also joins the Pilots as the director of goalkeeping after most recently serving as the goalkeeping coach for Portland Timbers 2
• Kronberg spent 12 seasons as a keeper in MLS, playing primarily with Sporting Kansas City.
• 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 HUSKIES
• The Washington Huskies are undefeated at 6-0-0 to start the year and are ranked third in the nation.
• They have spent 24 straight weeks ranked in the top 10, the longest streak of any team in the nation.
• Washington ranks among the top three in the Pac-12 in 17 different categories and is first in goal differential (12) and total goals (15).
• Individually, the Huskies have several players who have stood out this season.
• Lucas Meek has the most points in the conference at nine. His three goals and three assists are good for second and fourth in the Pac-12 respectively.
• Dylan Teves is tops in the Pac-12 in assists (4) as well as shots per game (3.6). He is also fifth in points per game (1.2)
• Sam Fowler has impressed between the pipes for the Huskies, ranking second in the Pac-12 in save percentage (.857) and goals against average (.482) and fourth in saves per game (3).
• Jamie Clark -- the reigning Pac-12 Coach of the Year -- is in his 11th season as head coach of the Huskies.
PILOTS IN THE PROS
• Portland has a long tradition of sending players to the pros, with several athletes playing in either MLS or the USL.
• Benji Michel, who played with the Pilots from 2016-18, signed a homegrown contract with Orlando City SC back in 2018 and has even earned call-ups to the U.S. Men's National Team's U-23 and senior squad.
• The Pilots have two alums currently playing in USL League One: Rey Ortiz and Esteban Calvo.
• Ortiz currently plays with the Chattanooga Red Wolves and Calvo with the Richmond Kickers.
• Additionally, alum Luis Robles has carved out an impressive career with the Red Bulls and he was named the 2015 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year.
• On March 11, 2017, Robles set an MLS record for consecutive league starts with 142, and he's run that streak to 183, spanning from September 2012 to May 2018.
• Robles also became the first player in club history to record 50 clean sheets on April 15, 2017 after a 2-0 victory against D.C. United.
