Gonzaga

Pilots fans, let's root for these teams, all favored to win their conference championships:

Memphis (CUSA)
Milwaukee (Horizon)
Boston U (America East)
William & Mary (Colonial)
Stephen F Austin (Southland)

And, not to be forgotten, for Florida State to win the ACC Championship (they are in the finals).

And, of course, for the Pilots.

GO PILOTS!

Here are the final match ups in the conf with only 1 berth probably given to NCAA tourney and their adjusted RPI:

Atl Sun: FL GC 74 v. Mercer 164.

Big Sky: Montana 272 v. Weber St 243

Big South: Radford 155 v. Campbell 126

Metro Atl: Marist 134 v. Loyola 186

Mid Am: Tol 78 v. w Mich 87

MVC: Ill St 94 v. Missouri St 101

Mt W: NM 77 v. Wyo 144

NE: St Fr 111 v. LIU 98

OVC: Tenn Martin 137 v. Morehead St 156

Patriot: Navy 95 v. Army 84

Southern: Samford 63 v. Col Charleston 104.

SWAC: Ark PB 241 v. MVSC 313

Summit: Oak 205 v. ND St 128

Sun Belt: FIU 67 v. W Kentucky 68

WAC: Utah St 65 v. Fr St 92.

Those matchups won't impact UP chances.

As UPSF mention, the conf where you have a poor rpi team in the finals jepordize UP chances:

Am E: Albany 168 v. BU 34

Atl 10: Massachusetts 47 v. Dayton 26

Colonial: VCU 133 v. W&M 37

Conf USA UTEP 80 v. Memphis 5

Horizon: Wright St 87 v. Mil 21

Southland: Tex St 83 v. SFA 46

UP's first objective is to win to get to 500. Then we'll see what happens tomorrow.

Good work, Gnarly. One correction -- Western Michigan is 58.

Pilot scarf, check.

Pilot cowbells, (two), check

Pilot sweatshirt. check

Pilot Megaphone, Check

Pilot hat, check.

Pilot Clacker Balloons, check.


Pilot seat cushion, check.
OK, Let's do this.

Great way to finish off the season. It could well have been 6 or 8 to 0.

From the Portlandpilot site:

The three goals were more than enough for Portland goalkeeper Hailee DeYoung, who had to make just one save for her fourth shutout of the year. The Pilots attempted 21 shots on the night, 11 of which were on-goal.
 
It was senior night at Merlo Field as the Pilots honored DeYoung, Foxhoven, Halley Kreminski, Kassi McCluskie, Emma Nelson and Michelle Olivier with a pre-game ceremony. This group has posted the fourth best winning percentage of any current senior class in the nation with a current four-year record of 69-14-3. They claimed three WCC titles and made three trips to the postseason, twice reaching the NCAA Quarterfinals.
 
Foxhoven ranks fourth all-time at UP in career goals and career points (139).

She jumped ahead of Enyeart in Points tonight..

Thanks to this Senior class we will miss you all. Cross your fingers for a tournament slot.

Another nice display from the students.



What a way for Foxhoven to close out her time as a Pilot. Just beautiful. Frisbie's run that included beating the same defender twice was brilliant as well.

Aside from the goalscorers Brooke I thought had a great game. Lots of nice runs from the right back spot (go ahead, keep giving her space) and she saved Senior Night by clearing that ball off the line.

Kurle looks better and better in central midfield. She's physical and has a knack for getting to the ball. I don't know how many of you will understand this comparison but she reminds me of the Timbers' James Marcelin. With a little more refining they'll be very useful for their respective teams.

Maybe there's more football left this year, but this was the perfect way to close out a challenging regular season. All I can say to Hallie, Emma, Dani, Kassi, Hailee, and Michelle is thank you for coming to Portland. You've made us proud to be Pilot fans.

I thought there was an urgency about the Pilots' game last night that I haven't seen in a long time. They closed down Gonzaga players and won the ball back better than I've seen them do all season. With the ball, they played more quickly, not holding on and looking around or dribbling into cul-de-sacs.

Maybe Gonzaga is a weak team, but this was a dominant performance of the kind we used to see, and without the distressing coda of the St. Mary's game. This kind of performance against Seattle and San Diego State (and maybe a few others) would probably have put us into the tournament, but then I guess this whole enterprise is supposed to be about learning and maybe we just weren't ready for that kind of performance in September.

Anyway, congratulations to the seniors and to the team. They put together an impressive performance for the finish, even if it doesn't end up being quite enough to make the 64.

Good win last night. Clearly a disappointing season but good to finish on a high note. Dani took her goal in the style we've been blessed to watch for four years and her ball to the far post for Ellen for the first goal was a lesson to several of her teammates as to what a good cross looks like. Hailee had little to do and MO was rock solid at the back. Hallie started and was unlucky to have a good effort hit the bar in the first half - it would have been nice for her to get a goal. Emma and Kassi came on for the final three minutes and played up front! Kassi almost scored. She was deleriously happy to be out there - scoring a gola might have sent her to a whole new level of ecstacy.

I pretty much agree with all that has been said about last night's game, so I just want to add something to what PPT said about Taylor Brooke. From our vantage point near the drum squad, we saw Taylor leap into the air for a header that was high enough that her hips were visible ABOVE the shoulders of the Zag players she was near. My first thought was Michael Jordan. My second thought was that the video operator better get this shot out to the media...or to the fans somehow. I could watch that over and over again and probably be amazed each viewing.

I agree that Taylor was wonderful against Gonzaga.

And with the 3-0 win, the Pilots have evened their goal-difference for the season: 26 goals for, 26 goals against.