Your 2012-13 University of Portland Pilots

Back Row L-R Coach Jasmine Forman; Coach Cheryl Sorenson; #30 Cassandra Thompson; #35 Elyse Snyder; #40 Erin Boettcher; Head Coach Jim Sollars; #22 Cassandra Brown; #33 Amy Pupa; #24 Annika Holopainen; Athletic Trainer Alex Parlan; Coach Sean Kelly.
Front Row L-R #11 Sara Ines Hernandez; #3 Ellen Nurmi; #42 Jazmyn Johnson; #15 Alexis Byrd; #10 Colleen Olinger; #32 Jasmine Wooton; #23 Kari Luttinen

3 Ellen Nurmi G 6-0 Fr. Turku, Finland / Makelanrinteen Lukio

10 Colleen Olinger G 5-8 So. Springfield, Pa. / Academy of Notre Dame de Namur

11 Sara Ines Hernandez F 6-1 Fr. Rome, Italy / Liceo Scientifico Nomentano

15 Alexis Byrd G 5-10 Jr. Las Vegas, Nev. / Centennial HS

22 Cassandra Brown G/F 6-2 Jr. Vernon, B.C. / Clarence Fulton

23 Kari Luttinen G 5-10 So. Seattle, Wash. / Seattle Prep

24 Annika Holopainen F 6-1 Fr. Helsinki, Finland / Makelanrinteen Lukio

30 Cassandra Thompson F 6-2 So. Athol, Idaho / Timberlake HS

32 Jasmine Wooton G 5-8 So. Northridge, Calif. / Chatsworth HS

33 Amy Pupa F 6-1 Jr. Ventura, Calif. / Ventura HS

35 Elyse Snyder C 6-3 R-So. Riverside, Calif. / Patriot HS

40 Erin Boettcher C 6-3 R-So. Concord, Calif. / Carondelet HS / New Mexico

42 Jazmyn Johnson G 5-9 Fr. Kingwood, Texas / Kingwood Park HS

The women open up the season on November 5 against Concordia in an exhibition game, but don't return to the Chiles Center until November 29 against UW.

But TODAY the team traveled to Corvallis for something even better than an exhibition game....a closed scrimmage consisting of six 10 minute periods….plenty of time to get in some good work.

It's taking awhile for our freshmen to adjust to the speed and size of college players in practice, but they'll have a very tough preseason schedule to prepare themselves for the rigors of WCC play.

Do you know what happened to the player listed as No. 14 on the roster, Alison Ryan? She does not appear to be in any of the team photos or anything...

RipCityPilot wrote:Do you know what happened to the player listed as No. 14 on the roster, Alison Ryan? She does not appear to be in any of the team photos or anything...

Unfortunately, she got her third ACL in three years and will spend the year in rehab.

You can hear her describe it here:

Where is that background with the fight song on it? That's cool.

RipCityPilot wrote:Do you know what happened to the player listed as No. 14 on the roster, Alison Ryan? She does not appear to be in any of the team photos or anything...

Yes. The Pilots took a bit of chance on Ali after she tore her ACL midway through her junior year in high school, and then tore it again in her senior year and didn't play a minute. And now another torn ACL has ended her freshman year at UP before it began.

I don't know if she's had surgery (probably), but the plan is to have her rehabbing the knee until the 2013-14 season.

It's obvious from her athleticism and size she would have been recruited by some BIG schools, but after her high school ACL injuries UP was the only school that took a chance on her. It could still payoff for everyone....it has notably happened in soccer.

Edit: oops, didn't see Geez had already posted the answer; oh well.

DoubleDipper wrote:Edit: oops, didn't see Geez had already posted the answer; oh well.

That's OK. He doesn't read anyone else's posts, either.

up7587 wrote:

That's OK. He doesn't read anyone else's posts, either.

I DO TOO!

I, err, forget, though. i'm old.

No real surprises in the 2012-13 WEST COAST CONFERENCE PRESEASON POLL released today:

1. Brigham Young
2. Gonzaga
3. Saint Mary’s
4. San Diego
5. Pepperdine
6. Santa Clara
7. Loyola Marymount
8. Portland
9. San Francisco

From the UP Athletic Department (edited):

Portland, which doesn’t have a single senior on the roster, features a young squad with five newcomers joining the mix. 6-2 junior guard Cassandra Brown is UP’s top returning scorer after putting up 9.9 points per game in 2011-12. Brown exploded for 32 points during a win over Santa Clara in the WCC Championships last season in Las Vegas, becoming the first Portland player to notch 30 points in a game since Laiken Dollente in 2009.

Also back are juniors Alexis Byrd and Amy Pupa, who combined to start 63 games last season at guard and forward, respectively. Headlining Portland’s six-person sophomore class is guard Kari Luttinen, who landed on the WCC’s All-Freshman Team a year ago.

New to The Bluff are four freshmen and a sophomore transfer. 6-3 post Erin Boettcher utilized her redshirt season last year after coming to Portland from New Mexico. Freshmen Ellen Nurmi and Annika Holopainen are teammates in Finland’s national team system, while fellow freshman Sara Ines Hernandez has played for the Italian Junior National Team. Freshman guard Jazmyn Johnson was voted the seventh best recruit coming out of the Houston, Texas area.

Hard to believe, but it's been over 15 years since UP and USF were the top contenders in the WCC.....

Geezaldinho wrote:

RipCityPilot wrote:Do you know what happened to the player listed as No. 14 on the roster, Alison Ryan? She does not appear to be in any of the team photos or anything...

Unfortunately, she got her third ACL in three years and will spend the year in rehab.

Then either we got some bad information or the UI stat crew made a mistake:

http://portlandpilots.com/documents/2012/11/16/UI-UP_women.pdf?id=3780

PurplePrideTrumpet wrote:

Geezaldinho wrote:

RipCityPilot wrote:Do you know what happened to the player listed as No. 14 on the roster, Alison Ryan? She does not appear to be in any of the team photos or anything...

Unfortunately, she got her third ACL in three years and will spend the year in rehab.

Then either we got some bad information or the UI stat crew made a mistake:

http://portlandpilots.com/documents/2012/11/16/UI-UP_women.pdf?id=3780

Yea, I saw that too.

I gotta believe it's bad info from Moscow unless there's been some sort of minor miricle as she hasn't been practicing......

Ali Ryan did NOT play in Moscow on Friday......and will not play this year.

UP box score has been changed to reflect this....garbage in, garbage.......

Went to practice today, and it was obvious the coaches have a lot of work to do to get the current team in a position to win. But the coaches appear to be doing all the right things to eventually right the ship.

The staff was drilling the players hard and challenging them to be aggressive, to run the offense as a TEAM, and defend their positions. I came away quite impressed with the work the staff was devoting to making the team better.

The team has no seniors, and only one of the three juniors is playing due to injuries...it doesn’t matter how good a coach you are, that is not a formula for success against the teams UP plays.

Frustrated as we may be as fans, after viewing practice today, I will now cut the staff some slack.

DoubleDipper wrote:Ali Ryan did NOT play in Moscow on Friday......and will not play this year.

UP box score has been changed to reflect this....garbage in, garbage.......

Spoke with Ali today....she had gotten a call from her mom in California after she too had seen the box score that credited Ali with a rebound even though she was not at the game.

They had a good laugh, and hoped that wouldn't be the last rebound she would get.