Nov. 11, 2004

PORTLAND, OR - The University of Portland women's soccer team earned the No. 5 seed in the 2004 NCAA Women's College Cup and will host first and second round action this weekend at Merlo Field. Colorado and Utah will kick-off a doubleheader on Friday, Nov. 12 at 4:30 p.m., followed by Portland and Weber State at 7 p.m. The winners will meet in the second round on Sunday, Nov. 14 at 1 p.m.

TICKET INFORMATION: Prices are $10 for stadium reserved seating; $8 for benchback reserved seating; general admission prices are $7 for adults and $5 for students. Advance tickets are subject to service charges of $1 per ticket for reserved seats and $0.50 per ticket on general admission seats. All tickets can be purchased through the Pilot Box Office at (503) 943-7525, or through TicketsWest at (503) 224-TIXX/800-922-TIXX.

FOLLOW ACTION LIVE ON THE INTERNET: Follow all 2004 NCAA Tournament games via the internet available at http://www.ncaasports.com/soccer/womens/scoreboard/div1.

ABOUT NO. 5 PORTLAND: The Pilots (17-3-0, 6-1-0 WCC) defeated Saint Mary's 3-1 on Saturday to capture a share of the West Coast Conference title along with Santa Clara. Portland earned its fourth consecutive NCAA bid and 12th in the last 13 years, hosting preliminary rounds for the ninth time over that period. Portland has played well coming down the stretch, winning nine of their last 10 contests and posting seven shutouts over that span. Portland's only three losses on the season have come against teams ranked in the top 10 nationally at the time of the game. Penn State (No. 4), Washington (No. 3) and Santa Clara (No. 10) handed the Pilots losses, but Portland is 5-3-0 against ranked opponents this year.

Junior striker Christine Sinclair, who sat out last season while participating in the FIFA Women's World Cup for Canada, was recently named the WCC Player of the Year and is among the national leaders in points (48), goals (19), assists (10) and game-winning goals (10). Sinclair was named the 2002 national player of the year by three different publications after leading the nation with 26 goals en route to Portland's first NCAA National Championship. Junior midfielder Lindsey Huie led the WCC with 11 assists and is second behind Sinclair in points with 27. Huie and Sinclair have both been selected among the 15 semifinalists for the M.A.C. Hermann Trophy. Portland's defense is anchored by four-year starters Kristen Rogers and Kristen Moore, as well as sophomore goalkeeper Cori Alexander (WCC Player of the Month for October). The team posts a 0.74 goals-against average with nine shutouts.

Associate director of soccer Garrett Smith is in his second year at the helm of the women's soccer program. Smith will be without the services of sophomores Angie Woznuk and Stephanie Lopez, as well as freshman Megan Rapinoe, who have all redshirted the 2004 season to compete with the U.S. Under-19 National Team at the 2004 World Championships.

ABOUT WEBER STATE: The Wildcats (8-9-2, 2-2-2 Big Sky) earned the school's first-ever trip to the NCAA College Cup with two shutout wins at the Big Sky Conference Tournament last week. The Wildcats knocked off the No. 1 seed and tournament host Portland State 2-0 in the semifinals on Nov. 5 to advance to the championship game. They then completed their upset sweep through the tournament with a 1-0 shutout of Montana on Nov. 7 for the automatic bid. Weber State enters the tournament on a five-match unbeaten streak, outscoring opponents 6-1 over that stretch. The Wildcats have posted six shutouts on the season and a 1.53 goals-against average. Naomi Felix leads WSU with six goals, while Rochelle Hoover has two goals and seven assists. Portland and Weber State met earlier this season at Merlo Field, with the Pilots marching to a 4-0 win in the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

ABOUT COLORADO: The Buffaloes (14-5-2, 6-3-1 Big 12) advanced to the semifinals of the Big 12 Conference Tournament after defeating Missouri, 2-1 in the opening round. Tricia Regan connected on her first career goal with eight seconds left to send the game into overtime and teammate Fran Munnelly converted a penalty kick in the 98th minute for the win. Two nights later Munnelly converted her second penalty kick in as many games, but the Buffs couldn't overcome two first half goals by No. 2 seed Texas A&M. The loss ended a six-match unbeaten streak for Colorado. The Buffs are paced by first team all-Big 12 junior midfielder Fran Munnelly (9 goals, 5 assists, 23 points), junior midfielder Ashlie Mihalcin (9 goals, 3 assists, 21 points), and first team all-Big 12 sophomore defender Laura Munnelly. Second team all-Big 12 goalkeeper Jessica Keller (0.70 gaa, 89 saves, 15 goals allowed) will be in net for the Buffs. In the only meeting between Portland and Colorado, the Pilots took a 1-0 decision to open the 2003 season in Boulder, Colo.

ABOUT UTAH: Utah is 13-5-3 overall and won its second consecutive Mountain West Conference Tournament last week in Provo, Utah. In the championship game, Utah got past No. 3-seeded San Diego State in a shootout, 4-3. The game was tied 1-1 after two overtime periods, forcing the game to penalty kicks. Utah, making its third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance, is one of 29 teams receiving an automatic bid to the 64-team tournament. Utah finished fourth in the Mountain West Conference this season with a 3-2-1 record. The Utes are 3-1-1 on neutral fields this season and 4-2-0 on opponents' fields. Sophomore forward Amanda Feigt is one of four Utes with double figures in points this season. She has six goals and five assists for a team-leading 17 points. Sophomore midfielder Hailey Marsh is second with six scores and one assist (13 points), followed by junior forward Kim Lloyd (2-8-12) and freshman forward Chelsea Card (5-0-10). Sophomore goalkeeper Ashley Mason has allowed just 16 goals while making 69 stops for a 0.88 goals against average. She has played in 18 of 21 games this season, posting six shutouts. Portland is 2-1-0 all-time against the Utes, including a 3-0 victory in the second round of the 2002 NCAA Playoffs.

UP TOURNAMENT TIDBITS: Portland earned its fifth straight NCAA Playoff berth and 12th in the last 13 years, hosting preliminary rounds for the ninth time over that span. The Pilots have reached the College Cup Semifinals seven times, advancing to the championship game twice and claiming the school's first-ever NCAA Championship in 2002, defeating Santa Clara 2-1 in double overtime. Last year, the Pilots advanced to the third round of the tournament before playing WCC rival Santa Clara to a scoreless draw and falling in a penalty kick shootout (4-2). After earning No. 8 seeds the past two seasons, the Pilots are No. 5 this year in their quest to the 2004 Women's College Cup, held in Cary, N.C. for the second consecutive season.

FAMILIAR WITH THE FIELD: Portland has played 11 members of the NCAA 64-team field this season, compiling an 8-3-0 record against those teams. The Pilots beat Weber State, Texas, Harvard, Connecticut, San Diego, Pepperdine, UAB and Ohio State. Penn State, Washington and Santa Clara handed Portland its only three losses of the regular season.

SIX PILOTS EARN ALL-WCC STATUS: Portland junior Christine Sinclair took home her second WCC Player of the Year award, while Lindsey Huie earned her third consecutive all-conference first team honor, headlining six Pilots earning all-WCC recognition in 2004. Senior defenders Kristen Moore and Kristen Rogers were second team selections, while sophomore goalkeeper Cori Alexander and freshman forward Natalie Budge were honorable mention picks. Budge was also named to the all-freshman team. Rogers and Moore both earned their third-straight all-conference awards, while Alexander earned honorable mention status for the second year in a row.

PILOTS, BRONCOS SHARE WCC TITLE: Portland and Santa Clara are the 2004 West Coast Conference Co-Champions after finishing with 6-1-0 league records. Santa Clara earned the automatic bid to the NCAA Playoffs based on the Bronco's head-to-head, 1-0 victory over Portland. Since the WCC began sponsoring women's soccer in 1992, either Portland or Santa Clara have won at least a share of the league title every season. Both the Pilots and Broncos each have seven WCC crowns.

HUIE EARNS FINAL WCC PLAYER OF THE WEEK AWARD: Lindsey Huie was named the WCC's Co-Player of the Week on Nov. 8 after scoring two goals and assisting on the game-winner in a 3-1 victory over Saint Mary's. Huie became the second Pilot of the season to earn the honor, adding to fellow junior Christine Sinclair's three weekly honors.

ALEXANDER AWARDED: Sophomore goalkeeper Cori Alexander was named the West Coast Conference Women's Soccer Player of the Month for October, marking the second consecutive month a Pilot has won the honor. Alexander posted a 0.22 goals-against average and seven shutouts, helping the Pilots to an 8-1-0 record. Junior striker Christine Sinclair was selected as the September Player of the Month. Alexander, a native of Martinez, Calif., began the month with four straight shutouts against Brigham Young, Washington State, Gonzaga and Portland State. She also recorded clean sheets against Loyola Marymount, San Diego and San Francisco. Alexander tallied 31 saves and recorded a .939 save percentage in 831:57 minutes played. Her seven shutouts during October propelled her into sixth place on the Pilots' all-time shutouts charts with 20, while her 0.65 career goals against average also ranks sixth on Portland's career list.

SINCLAIR, HUIE M.A.C. HERMANN SEMIFINALISTS: Portland juniors Christine Sinclair and Lindsey Huie are two of the fifteen semifinalists selected for the Missouri Athletic Club's Hermann Trophy, the official National Soccer Coaches Association of America Player of the Year award for Division I competition. The award is regarded as college soccer's version of the Heisman Trophy. Portland, North Carolina and Notre Dame are the only three schools with multiple representatives. Three finalists will be announced at the 2004 Men's College Cup in December. The winner will be announced at the Missouri Athletic Club in St. Louis on Friday, Jan. 7, 2005.

ADD SINCLAIR: Christine Sinclair has been named both the WCC Player of the Week, and to the Soccer America Team of the Week on three occasions this season. Her four-goal, three game-winners performance for the week ending Oct. 17 warranted the latest recognition, along with Soccer Buzz Elite Team of the Week selection. Sinclair also earned the conference's September Player of the Month award.

SHUTOUTS BECOMING COMMON: After recording just two shutouts through the first 10 games of the season, Portland has blanked seven of its last ten opponents. Sophomore keeper Cori Alexander has notched eight shutouts on the year, giving her 20 career shutouts. Alexander has already ascended into a tie for sixth place on the Pilot career shutouts chart.

ALL-AMERICAN CONNECTION: Junior All-Americans Christine Sinclair and Lindsey Huie are the highest scoring tandem in the WCC with a combined 75 points. Sinclair leads the league in points (48), goals (19) and game-winners (10), while Huie leads the WCC in assists (11), is second in points (27) and tied for fourth in goals (8). The duo have set each other up for a combined 11 goals, with Huie assisting on eight goals and Sinclair setting up three of Huie strikes. The two have also tallied assists together on two other Pilot goals.

AMONG THE NATIONAL LEADERS: Christine Sinclair is seventh nationally in points per game (2.40), 10th in goals per game (0.95) and tied for 29th in assists per game (0.50). Lindsey Huie is tied for 18th in assists per game (0.55), while Portland as a team is 27th in goals-against average (0.741), 44th in shutout percentage (0.45) and tied for sixth in win-loss percentage (.850).

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS: With an 11-2-0 non-conference record this season, Portland has made it 13 consecutive seasons with a winning record outside of WCC play. The 11 wins ties for the second most among non-conference regular season games in UP history with four other seasons. The 1992 Pilots top the list as they finished with a 14-1 non-conference mark, as they played only four conference matches that season.

CONFERENCE OPENERS: The Pilots improved to 12-1-0 all-time in West Coast Conference openers when they defeated Gonzaga 1-0 on Sunday, Oct. 10. Since joining the WCC prior to the 1992 season, Portland is 12-0-0 against Gonzaga in openers, while losing to Saint Mary's in 2001 by a 1-0 margin.

HUIE CLIMBING SCORING CHARTS: With eight goals and 10 assists on the season, Lindsey Huie climbed into eighth place on UP's career scoring charts with 81 points (25g, 31a), while her 31 assists vault her to fifth all-time. She also became just the fourth Pilot in history to score over 20 goals and 30 assists for her career, joining the short list of Tiffeny Milbrett, Shannon MacMillan and Justi Baumgardt as the only Pilots to accomplish the feat. Huie's assist at San Diego last weekend put her in the distinguished company.

SINCLAIR JOINS 20/20 LIST: Christine Sinclair's 10 assists this year gives her 21 career assists to go with 68 goals. She joins current teammate Lindsey Huie, along with past Pilot greats Tiffeny Milbrett, Shannon MacMillan, Justi Baumgardt, Tammy Martindale and Jody Lim as the only players in UP history to register over 20 goals and 20 assists. Sinclair, Milbrett and MacMillan are the only Pilots with more than 60 goals and 20 assists.

MOORE ASSISTS: Senior defender Kristen Moore continues to climb Portland's all-time assists list after setting up two scores against Weber State on Sept. 10. The Mission Viejo, Calif. native now has 21 career assists, placing her in a tie for 13th on Portland's charts. Three more assists will land her a spot in the top 10 along with teammate Lindsey Huie.

PILOTS KNOW HOW TO HOST: Portland captured its sixth Nike Invitational title in the tournament's 10th year at Merlo Field on the weekend of Sept. 10-12. The Pilots defeated Weber State (4-0) and UAB (3-0), while also sweeping the individual tournament honors as junior striker Christine Sinclair and senior defender Kristen Moore claimed the Most Outstanding Offensive and Defensive Player awards.

THREE PILOTS REDSHIRT: Pilot sophomores Angie Woznuk and Stephanie Lopez, as well as freshman Megan Rapinoe, will redshirt the 2004 season to play for the U.S. Under-19 National Team at the 2004 World Championships. Woznuk was a second team all-WCC selection as a freshman and one of the Pilots biggest playmakers. Lopez earned freshman All-America honors as a central defender and was named the Soccer Buzz West Region Freshman of the Year. Rapinoe was rated the sixth-best individual recruit in 2004 according to Soccer America.

All three Pilots had a hand in a dominating 3-0 performance over South Korea to kick-off the World Championships on Thurs., Nov. 11. Woznuk opened the scoring in the 15th minute when she buried a penalty kick after Rapinoe was taken down in the box, while Lopez and the USA defense shut down the South Koreans. The USA's next match is against Russia on Nov. 14 at 5 p.m. local (5 a.m. ET).

NATIONAL RANKINGS: The Pilots are ranked No. 5 in the Soccer Buzz, Soccer Times and Soccer America polls, while coming in at No. 6 according to the NSCAA. In regional rankings, the Pilots are first in Soccer Buzz West Region poll and second behind Santa Clara in the NSCAA poll.

MERLO DOMINANCE: The Pilots have historically been dominant at Merlo Field since it's inception in 1990. The team is 129-18-5 (.864) and finished 9-1-2 (.833) at home last season. The Pilots were among the national leaders in attendance in 2003, averaging 1,440 fans per contest. Portland concluded its 2004 regular season home schedule with a 7-1-0 record, while averaging 2,037 fans per match.

A SPECIAL NIGHT!: The Clive Charles Soccer Complex at the University of Portland officially celebrated the first night match in Merlo Field history on Sept. 10, 2004 as the Pilots defeated Weber State, 4-0 with the sixth-largest crowd in Pilot history on hand (4,070). The inaugural night match had a wide-array of activities that began with the recognition of special donors Harry Merlo, Earle Chiles and Joe Garaventa. At halftime, former UP athletics director Joe Etzel and Clarena Charles, wife of the late Clive Charles, were honored at midfield along with over 50 Pilot soccer alums. The night was capped by a postgame fireworks display.

COMING UP NEXT: The NCAA third round will be played on the weekend of Nov. 19-21 at campus sites. If Portland were to advance to the third round, the Pilots would return to Merlo Field and host again. The NCAA quarterfinals will take place on Nov. 26-28, while the College Cup will be played on Dec. 3-5 in Cary, N.C.

SOCCER COACHING STAFF: Associate director of soccer Garrett Smith has been with Portland in a coaching capacity since the 1992 season. Smith handles the daily operations of the women's team, leading last years' squad to the NCAA third round and an 18-3-2 overall record. Assistant coaches Rob Baarts, Dan Schell and Lauren Orlandos enter their first season on the Portland combined staff, while Wynne McIntosh begins her third year with the program. In two seasons, Smith has compiled a 35-6-2 overall record.

Director of soccer Bill Irwin begins his second season at the helm of the Pilot soccer program. Irwin was named the director of soccer for both the men's and women's programs last season following the passing of legendary Pilot head coach Clive Charles, whom Irwin served 17 seasons under as an assistant.