Columbia University: Roar, Lion, Roar

Am I reading this right? 4 goals for Sophie?

5-1 must be final as it is posted on portlandpilots.com now.

A big thanks to "pilotposer" for keeping us updated. I really appreciate it!

Mr. Poser is our hero!

Geezaldinho wrote:Mr. Poser is our hero!

Ditto, Poser - You're everyone's hero - Please write up more details when you can.

Here's how I saw it from Husky Soccer Field: The Pilots and Lions put on an entertaining game that was notable for the Lions ending the Pilots’ shutout streak late in the game. The teams endured a monsoon of a first half, as did the “crowd” of a few hundred drenched souls. The weather was a miserable example of Washington hospitality: Heavy rain, gusting wind, slick field and gloomy skies at kickoff. As we were huddled under a canopy awaiting the game, one Columbia fan questioned whether the game would even be played under such conditions, and the Northwesterners who overheard just laughed. Yeah, they’ll play!
The Pilots handled the field conditions remarkably well. (They do have some experience playing in the rain!) Enyeart came out like a house afire, attacking the goal and sending balls wide right to Chandhoke and Tsao. Foxhoven cleaned up after an Enyeart shot off the post for a lead about 30 minutes in. Then Schmidt turned on her power game for two goals up the middle, one when she and Foxhoven went 2 v 2 against the CU back line plus keeper; Schmidt skipped the ball low into the far corner from distance rather than passing, and the keeper had no chance. Chandhoke played a strong game once again winning balls and passing them around, and almost scoring on several attempts. Three of Portland’s first seven shots were goals, per the scoreboard.
Portland’s D held up strong in the first half– the starting four played the whole match. The backs did not play long balls very often, preferring short passes under control. Winters ruled the midfield, winning the air battle and taking and giving many shoves and bumps in doing so. Tsao and Sweeney attacked freely up the sides as if daring Columbia to counterattack. Sweeney distributed well with both feet.
Just before halftime the rain ceased and stayed away the rest of the match.
Subs Kreminski and Burk came on for Foxhoven and Enyeart for the 2nd half. Later on Johnson (forward, replacing Kreminski), Brooke (right mid for Chandhoke) and Jacka (left mid for Reed) took the field, if I’m recalling correctly. Despite the improved field conditions neither team scored for the longest time. The Lions never gave up and appeared to score about 10 minutes from the end, only to have it called back, as the whistle had already blown the play dead. The reprieve was short-lived: TheLions turned disappointment into celebration right away with a shot from the right side into the upper corner that DeYoung couldn’t reach. She had already tipped another strong shot over the crossbar to foil an earlier attempt. CU still kept attacking and put consecutive shots off the goalpost and crossbar.
But in a “take that!” response worthy of Megan Rapinoe, Johnson immediately attacked up the middle and dished off to Schmidt, who put in her third goal to deflate the Lions. She soon added her fourth to cap a dominant 90-minute performance (and at least one fan urged her to get five).
So: a fun game for all despite the heavy weather. Each team proved something. Pilots poured on the offense for the highest goal total of the season; Schmidt was a monster up front; Columbia scored a morale-boosting goal against a previously perfect defense.

And here is the official Gocolumbia lions.com story, complete with the wrong team name for the UP "Pioneers" -- maybe they thought they were playing Lewis & Clark -- so no Pulitzer Prize for this one:
SEATTLE -- Senior Christina Eckhardt became the first player in the country to crack the defense of No. 3 Portland with a goal in the 83rd minute, and the Columbia University women's soccer team outshot the Pioneers in the second half, 11-6. But the Lions could not overcome four goals by Portland All-American Sophie Schmidt in a 5-1 loss on the final day of the Husky/Nike Invitational at the University of Washington on Sunday afternoon.

Portland entered the game having outscored its opponents 11-0, and had defeated four nationally-ranked teams by way of shutout. But after Columbia controlled play for much of the second half, Eckhardt connected for the first goal of her career from 30 yards out. Her shot found the upper-right corner of the net and put the score at 3-1.

Following the goal, the Lions continued to put pressure on and saw a shot from senior co-captain Ashley Mistele hit the post in the 86th minute.

The contest began with sophomore Liz Wicks recording the match's first shot in the opening minute that went wide. But from there, the Pioneers would score three times in the first half to take control. Schmidt tallied two of her goals in the opening period, while sophomore Danielle Foxhoven had the other.

The Lions came out of the halftime break aggressively, recording four shots, including three by senior All-American Sophie Reiser, in the first 20 minutes of the half. Columbia would maintain its high-energy play throughout the half, and had a pair of corner kicks and two shots in the moments leading up to the goal by Eckhardt.

Schmidt would conclude the scoring for Portland with back-to-back goals in the final eight minutes of the match.

My take on today's game is similar to p haze.

First half it rained. Hard. We got wet. Soaked. Then it stopped just as the half came to an end. It was so wet that my pants only dried out about 10 minutes from Portkland on the way back - and I had the heat/fan cranked up to dry out! Extra kudos to the crazy bunch who made it out. Don't blame those with small children for abandoning ship.

Pilots played really well in the first half. Same starting line up as each game (?) but with Hailee in goal. They played remarkable one- and two-touch ball in horrible conditions and completely played Columbia off the field. Went in 3-0 up. Everyone played well and Sophie scored two nice goals and dani did the fiox-in-the=box routine and pounced on a rebound for her score.

Second half they starting making subs most of whom showed well but somehow the control was not as tight and Columbia got back in the game, made a few chances and scored one, had one called back and hit the post twice on another sequence. Hard to say what the problem was because the starting d and Keelin were all still there.

Shame to concede the first goal of the season; but having done so they then proceeded to get back in gear and put a couple more in at the other end.

University of Portland was named the Husky/Nike Invitational tournament champion. Both Portland and Washington went 2-0, but the Pilots win due to total goals scored (7-6). Pilot junior forward Sophie Schmidt was also named the Offensive MVP after scoring four goals in Sunday’s victory over Columbia. Washington’s Kendyl Pele was the tournament’s Defensive MVP

Sophie is playing very well. It's not just the goals but the whole of her game.

She is strong on the ball; a great target because she controls the ball with her back to the goals and holds it and lays it off; she is moving as well as I've seen her. And she runs and runs. She played the whole 90 minutes today, I think.

As many have said this weekend, it's good to see Kendra enjoying her game. She seems to be 100% healthy again and she is another who is covering a lot of ground. She does a good job at outside mid because she is very aggressive at tackling back and she's quick enough to be able to put pressure on people.

My part was easy today, the real thanks goes to a couple of fans at the game willing to interrupt their viewing of the game to send some text messages, thanks to them for their help

I like that there are a couple new teams being introduced to WSOC...first the California Bruins and now the Portland Pioneers!

No guesswork here, huh? At least the team nicknames used have a close association and fit to the region and school to some degree?

GO PILOTS!!!

Just think, with a couple of the old names retained, yesterday could have been the Columbia webfoot, Chinooks, or bluffdwellers against the Columbia (or Kings College) eagles or goats.

UP needed every one of Sophie's goals to claim the invitational title -- not that the Pilots were trying to run up the score. The Columbia goal lit a fire under them. Harry R. notes how strong Sophie Schmidt is when playing with her back to the goal. Against Columbia I saw Kendall Johnson doing the same when she went in as a forward. She awaits the ball while holding off the defender and doesn't yield ground. She receives and controls the ball even when under pressure, then makes a strong move to create space before deciding whether to pass, dribble or shoot. Very impressive for a freshman. I believe we have sen her play frontline, midfield and even defense (versus Cal late in the game) to this point. She's an MVP: Most Versatile Pilot!