2018 Season

That went pretty well. Kienan could have gotten a facial with the cucumber slices over the eyes for most of his half.

Final score 7-0.

Don’t ask who scored. I’m too old to keep track of that much.

Some thoughts after the UBC game last night:

Jake Areaga looks like the real deal. So composed on the ball, great awareness of where his teammates and opponents are, good touch on his passes, tall and strong in the air. He was played in a holding role last night, but I'd love to see what he could add going forward.

Benji Michel and Rey Ortiz are first class players. They each have wonderful attacking skills that only seem to get better each year.

The defense looked shaky all night, giving UBC a lot of chances. Some of that is probably just getting a new group of players together and not knowing who needs to do what. But I fear that we may be in for a few more 3-2 or 4-2 games this year, hopefully with the good guys on top.

If any insider on the board gets any information on the injury to Jabari Newton, could you please post here? He looked good in his 40 minutes or so, but couldn't walk off unaided, so I'm worried that his season may end before it starts.

SoreKnees wrote:

If any insider on the board gets any information on the injury to Jabari Newton, could you please post here? He looked good in his 40 minutes or so, but couldn't walk off unaided, so I'm worried that his season may end before it starts.

I asked at the kickoff last night, and your worries are legit.

Jabari suffered an MCL injury, and while it’s a bit early for a full evaluation, he may be out for the year.

Best scenario is a few weeks, I think, hopefully in time for conference.

Damn!!

Best wishes to Jabari. Hope he can return this season. going to hurt an already weakened defence.

Did anyone go to Seattle yesterday? I turned on the game stats update briefly and saw a 0-3 deficit after 18 minutes, so I turned it off. Must have been a heck of a halftime team talk!

SoreKnees wrote:Did anyone go to Seattle yesterday? I turned on the game stats update briefly and saw a 0-3 deficit after 18 minutes, so I turned it off. Must have been a heck of a halftime team talk!

I’d like to hear from somebody who was there as well. I was at the Thorns match experiencing a similar outcome.
As I sat down for the start of that match I saw the 0-3 score, then Checked back periodically and paid more attention to the updates than to the game I was at.

At the meet and greet I had a discussion with coach Nick about our lack of success on the road last year. Considering this was a ranked opponent, I’d say the result was a step in the right direction. It showed grit.

The defense is still a concern, however. We can’t expect great success if we spot teams three goals.

"Portland finished tied for 2nd with Pacific last season, but were on the outside looking in when at-large bids were announced for the NCAA Tournament. The Pilots look to juniors Benji Michel (10 goals, 2 assists in 2017) and Rey Ortiz (6 goals, 13 assists) to lead them in 2018. But having nine of 10 non-conference games at home, just one of which is against a team with a winning record in 2017, means Portland will need to win the auto bid."

This is the prognosis from the RPI Update website. Didn't realize our Strength of Schedule was so weak this year. Also thought that they selected Pacific as an at large to the tourney last year with a pretty weak SOS. Just have to win what's in front of them.

Following the men’s game against Sac State from out here...

We are barely 6 minutes in and have conceded a goal and seen Sac State get a red card. College soccer is wild.

Here’s video of that goal from Michel: https://twitter.com/portlandpilots/status/1033160216232189952?s=21

Seems like our offense has been a nonstop barrage of the Sac State defense. We have had the ball behind their keeper a few times, but their backline hasn’t quit. Even though it’s 1-1, I’m happy with how we have looked. Sometimes you go up a man and then nothing develops of it.

I am enjoying the “Clive’s Army” name. Wish I could be there to take it all in with a beer in person.

Still one more half to go!

...and I jinxed it. Sorry everyone! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Enjoyed the night last night. Get to run around with my camera again this year...more sunsets like this are always welcome at Merlo.

PilotDrummer wrote:Enjoyed the night last night. Get to run around with my camera again this year...more sunsets like this are always welcome at Merlo.

Great picture!

I did not have the chance to watch the men's game since it was so late (and also both were scheduled at the same time as the Timbers-Sounders matchup). But, the win over Syracuse is a good result (any win is a good result)! The Orange were not a very strong team last year, but they went to the College Cup in 2015 and back to the playoffs in 2016. The ACC is strong top to bottom usually, so this will likely be a good look for us. They also had just beaten Oregon State a few days earlier.

Syracuse were #43 in the RPI last year.

First ranking is out. The coaches poll has UP ‘also receiving votes’ putting them at #27 in the poll.

http://unitedsoccercoaches.org/web/Rankings/College_Rankings/NCAA_DI_MEN/web/Rankings/NCAA/DI_MEN.aspx?hkey=47194b33-4bae-4229-a4b5-c504d628cd93

Pacific is #17, Udub is #3.

The Pilots impressed me last night. A good win against a good opponent.

I was particularly impressed with their in-game adjustments, which is something that Pilot teams have not always done well. UCSB looked very dangerous in the first 20 minutes, using their speed and remarkable size to threaten down the wings and over the top. But midway through the second half, I realized that I actually wasn't all that worried about UCSB scoring. The striker from New Zealand (#7) looked like scoring two or three goals in the early going (but left limping before half-time and only briefly returned near the end). He was beating our defenders for pace and, at 6'2", was dominant in the air as well.

After surviving the rocky start without conceding, the Pilots seemed to make some important tactical adjustments. It took a half hour or so for the Pilots to figure out that Michel was not going to win headers against UCSB's Brobdingnagian back line, but then they started to give him more space to collect long balls before trying to turn the defender, which eventually worked several times to create threats. The back line played a bit deeper to give them an extra step against the pacy forwards. They also used the short passing game to control the ball and work gradually and patiently forward. In short, they eschewed tactics that work against smaller and slower opponents and used their remaining advantage in close control to find another way to win. Impressive!

And another call-out to freshman Jake Areaga. He made the first mistake I remember him making all season when he passed the ball straight to an opponent in the second half. Amazing that after watching four matches I can only remember one! He is just so solid and composed on the ball, knows where everyone is before he gets it, and consistently make good decisions. Maybe all the experience with the youth national sides have made the college game seem slower and more manageable than it is for most rookies. He sure looks like a great recruit!

And one more comment: the referee was truly excellent. (The box score says that his name is Chipalo Street.) He was positioned well throughout and kept the tone of the game under control early despite the physicality that was evident from the start. This one could have gotten out of control easily, but calling the "small" fouls tightly in the first 30 minutes kept tempers down. He also made two or three terrific "advantage" calls, letting play continue 3, 4, or 5 seconds as the ball was contested and then calling it back for the foul when the potential advantage did not materialize.

We complain about referees a lot, so we really should note when a match is run well (says the ex-referee!).

SoreKnees wrote:I was particularly impressed with their in-game adjustments, which is something that Pilot teams have not always done well.

To give credit where credit is due, Coach Leonard Griffin was the man in charge last night....

GAME DAY...UP takes on Cal Poly at 7 at Merlo.

Still early in the season, but after the Pilots win over Syracuse on Friday they've moved up to #21 in the RPI (Cal Poly is #175).

UP's opponent in 12 days, UW, has moved up to #19, and the top rated team in the WCC is USF, at #18 after beating UCLA on the road yesterday.

Still very early to use RPI.

USF’s big RPI win is #10 CSUN, which I don’t get at all,

And Udub lost to #26 Denver, who’s other win is #197 Monmouth.

The best win both Csun and USF have is the same opponent,  #37 New Mexico, who’s best win is #64 Seattle.

Seattle’s wins are UCSB and Cal Poly.

Geezaldinho wrote:Still very early to use RPI. Nobody mentioned has played more than 3 games.

USF’s big RPI win is #10 CSUN, which I don’t get at all,

And Udub lost to #26 Denver, who’s other win is #197 Monmouth.

The best win both Udub and USF have is the same opponent,  #37 New Mexico.

The RPI isn't meaningful until after the week 6 games.

And to demonstrate where the RPI is now, we beat
#154 Cal Poly and go from 21 to 31
UDub beat #164 Gonzaga an goes from 18 to 19.

And UCLA remains at #6 on the basis of wins over San Diego and Coastal Carolina and a loss to USF.

Fresh off his award of a full-scholarship, his clean sheet against UCSB and wins over Syracuse and Cal Poly, Kienan Weekes lands on the Top Drawer Team of the Week....


https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer-articles/mens-team-of-the-week:-september-4_aid44709

Ten newcomers on the NCAA Soccer Coaches poll Top 25 this week including Portland at #18, Coastal Carolina at #19 and USF at #16 USF, while UW drops from #3 to #23.  Also getting votes were SMC at #34 and UOP at #39.
https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/soccer-men/d1/united-soccer-coaches

Top Drawer Soccer has UW at #9, USF at #15, Portland at #22, and Coastal Carolina at #24
https://www.topdrawersoccer.com/college-soccer-national-rankings/men

Crazy start to this game: 3 goals in the first 10 minutes and a rare indirect kick inside the box for the Pilots.

I hope that in the future, we will do a better job of not scheduling our soccer games during Timbers/Thorns games. I dislike having to choose who to watch.