#18 PORTLAND PILOTS (14-2-3, 6-1-0 WCC)
WEEK 14: vs. Western Michigan Broncos

Western Michigan Broncos (16-2-2, 5-1-2 MAC)
Day: Saturday
Date: Nov. 26, 2022
Time: 5:00 PM
Place: Portland, Ore.
Pitch: Merlo Field
Video/Stats: PortlandPilots.com

POR vs. WMU
Overall Series: 1-0-0
H: 1-0-0  •  A: 0-0-0  •  N: 0-0-0
Last: @POR 4, WMU 1 (2017)

THIS WEEK
• The Pilots advance to the third round, now hosting the Western Michigan Broncos here at Merlo Field.
• The two teams play on Saturday, Nov. 26 at 5 p.m.
• Check PortlandPilots.com for other live video and stat options.

ABOUT THE PILOTS
• The Pilots have advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009 with a 2-0 shutout win over the Oregon State Beavers.
• This is the first time the Pilots have ever hosted a match beyond the second round of the tournament.
• With the win, they improved to 14-2-3 on the season, their highest win total since 1995 and their best win percentage since 1988.
• The Pilots finished second in the WCC, their highest finish since the 2016 season, Portland head coach Nick Carlin-Voigt's first at the helm.
• Portland's 2-0 win was their first win in the playoffs by multiple goals since 2004 and their first shutout win in the playoffs since 2018.
• Their nine shutouts are the most of any Pilot team since 2007.
• The Pilots have scored in all but one of their 19 matches for the first time since 2018, and have scored at least two goals in 16 of their 19 matches. That's the most times they've done so in a season.
• Portland's 50 goals are the most by a Portland team since 1995, and also marks the 10th time a Portland team has scored 50 goals in a year. It ranks first in the WCC and fourth nationally.
• Jacob Babalai had the game-winning goal for Portland, with Muslim Umar scoring the second. It was Babalai's eighth of the year and Umar's fourth.
• Babalai became the second Pilot this season to eclipse 20 points on the year.
• The striker from West Linn also became the third Pilot this season to make the College Soccer News National Team of the Week.
• Portland has had six different players win WCC Player of the Week: Cambridge, Gurman Sangha, George Tasouris, Delentz Pierre, Kevin Bonilla and CJ Tibbling.
• They were the first team to have a WCC Player of the Week winner four weeks in a row and the only team to sweep the awards twice since the WCC changed the format two seasons ago. They won 11 of a possible 24 honors.
• The Pilots are ranked in the two major Top 25 Polls -- the United Soccer Coaches poll and the TopDrawerSoccer poll. This is the first time they've been ranked in the regular season since 2019.
• They are 18th in the United Soccer Coaches poll and 17th in the TopDrawerSoccer poll.
• Portland leads the WCC in almost every major category, and ranks third nationally in goal differential (32), fourth in goals (50), scoring offense (2.63) and points per game (8.00), fifth in total points (152), eighth in assists (52) and 10th in assists per game (2.74).
• Individually, Brandon Cambridge (31), Jacob Babalai (20), Sebastian Nava and Gurman Sangha (18 each) are the four of the top five scorers in the WCC this season by points.
• Sebastian Nava leads the WCC and ranks ninth nationally in assists with 10. Nick Fernandez was tied for second conference-wise with Brandon Cambridge at seven assists while also adding a goal.
• Nava's 10 assists makes him the first Pilot since Rey Ortiz in 2013 to cross the double-digit threshold.
• Tasouris is first in the WCC in goals-against average at 0.967.
• Portland had 10 players earn All-WCC honors on the year, highlighted by Cambridge winning WCC Offensive Player of the Year and Tasouris winning WCC Co-Goalkeeper of the Year.
• Cambridge's 12 goals are the most by a Pilot since Eddie Sanchez in 2013, and his 31 points are the most by a Pilot since Steven Evans 2012. He is seventh and sixth nationally in those categories.
• Along with that, Cambridge, Pierre and Fernandez all made the All-WCC First Team, Bonilla made the All-WCC Second team, Tibbling, Arteaga, Tasouris and Nava all earned honorable mention and Oliver Jeppe and Muslim Umar made the freshman team.
• Jeppe and Umar have played in all 19 matches this season, with Umar scoring four goals with one assist. Jeppe added an assist and was a crucial reserve in the midfield.
• The Pilots were picked as the preseason favorite to win the West Coast Conference regular season title, finishing first in the annual WCC Preseason Coaches Poll.
• It's the first time since 2003 that the Pilots have been picked to win the WCC.
• Two Pilots were named to the WCC Preseason Team: Jake Arteaga and George Tasouris.
• Arteaga was Portland's lone All-WCC First Team selection last season, starting 17 games in the midfield and serving as the connective tissue for the Pilots. He was also an All-West Region Third Team selection.
• Tasouris was also an All-West Region Third Team selection along with an All-WCC Second Team pick.
• The goalkeeper from Cyprus was a dominant force between the sticks, leading the WCC in saves (70), second in save percentage (.778) and shutouts (6) and also third in saves per game (3.68).
• Tasouris was twice named WCC Defensive Player of the Week, becoming the first Pilot since Benji Michel to win the award multiple times in a season. Tasouris was also on the Hermann Trophy Preseason Watch List and a Senior CLASS Award nominee
• As a team last year, the Pilots went 11-7-1 and finished tied for third in the WCC.
• They made the NCAA Tournament for the third time in six seasons (five fall seasons) under head coach Nick Carlin-Voigt. They advanced to the second round after defeating the Seattle U Redhawks 3-2 at home for the third time since 2002.
• Portland beat four teams in the top 40 of RPI last season: UCLA, Seattle U, Northern Illinois and Loyola Marymount. That was the third most by any team in a major western conference (Pac-12, WCC, Big West, Mountain West, WAC).
• The Pilots had seven players earn All-WCC honors last season: Arteaga, Tasouris, Delentz Pierre, Brian O'Hara, Sebastian Nava, Atem Kato and Luke Hendel. Of those players, Arteaga, Tasouris, Pierre and Nava are all returning.
• Pierre earned second team honors despite playing just 14 games (12 starts), anchoring a strong back line in all those contests. He was named to the TopDrawerSoccer Team of the Week on Oct. 26.
• As a freshman, Nava was the second-leading scorer on the Pilots with four goals. He made the All-WCC Freshmen Team as well as earning honorable mention.
• The Pilots return six players who started in at least 10 games last season.
• One key contributor will be Kevin Bonilla, who made several honorary teams including the All-West Region Third Team, the TopDrawerSoccer Freshmen Best XI First Team and the College Soccer News All-Freshmen Third Team.
• Bonilla also made the TopDrawerSoccer National Team of the Week on Sept. 14 after playing a solid 90 minutes and scoring the game-winner.
• 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 was the team leader in assists as an outside back with five.
• The Pilots also return key attacking contributors in Brandon Cambridge and Jacob Babalai.
• Cambridge was a key creator on the wing, notching four assists with one goal scored. He was an All-WCC Freshmen Team selection in the 2020-21 season.
• Babalai was tied for third on the team in goals 
• Portland also returns Nick Fernandez, a key contributor from the 2020-21 season. That year, he made both the All-WCC Freshman Team and the All-WCC Second Team.
• The Pilots also several talented transfers in Jose Olmos, CJ Tibbling and Marios Andreou.
• Olmos played the past three seasons at Old Dominion as a defender. He was named to the Conference USA All-Freshman Team in 2019.
• Tibbling was a physical forward for the Seton Hall Pirates, earning All-BIG EAST honors three of his four seasons with the team. He was also a United Soccer Coaches Second Team All-American and an All-East Region First Team selection in 2020-21 season.
• Andreou played four seasons at Grand Canyon, earning All-WAC honors twice for the 'Lopes.
• Portland boasts the No. 19 recruiting class in the nation per TopDrawerSoccer.
• This marks the sixth straight year Carlin-Voigt has brought in a top-20 recruiting class.
• Carlin-Voigt is in his seventh 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 Cole.
• Cole joins the staff after a stint as assistant coach with the Cornell Big Red. Cole was previously a stout defender for the Vermont Catamounts and also overseas in Germany.
• 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 18 appearances in the NCAA Postseason all-time, which includes two appearances in the College Cup (1988 & 1995).

ABOUT THE BRONCOS
• The Western Michigan Broncos are 16-2-2 on the season, winning the MAC.
• They beat Louisville and Lipscomb to reach this point in the tournament.
• Chad Wiseman is in his 10th season as head coach of the Broncos.

PILOTS IN THE PROS
• Portland has a long tradition of sending players to the pros, with several athletes playing at the next level.
• 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.
• Jacobo Reyes also currently plays for Liga MX side Raya2 Expansion. He is currently on loan from Monterrey, another Liga MX squad.