Welcome back to this week's Pilots Weekly RoundUP. The fourth week of school has come and gone with the Pilots grinding out some tough results. The Pilot’s seasons are heating up and last week marked the start of Pilots Women’s Tennis.
Men’s Soccer:
Pilots Men’s Soccer entered the week ranked fifth in the nation. They played at Merlo Field last Thursday against California State University-Northridge and took all three points winning 4-0. This win improved their record to 5-1-0 and Kevin Bonilla earned two national team of the week awards for his impressive recent performances. Bonilla has a total of eight assists and is tied for first as the nation's leading assister.
The four goals against CSUN were scored by Jacob Babalai, Buba Fofanah and Micah Garnette. Babalai scored two goals marking his sixth of the season while Fofanah scored his fifth goal of the year. Garnette’s goal was his first goal of the year and his first as a Pilot. The 4-0 win capped off a good performance and gave the Pilots their third clean sheet of the year.
Men’s Soccer traveled last Sunday to play the University of Washington and lost 3-1. The Pilots took the lead first after Babalai slotted home a penalty for his seventh goal of the season. The Pilots could not hold the lead and Washington scored three goals in quick succession. This loss brings The Pilots record to 5-1-1 overall.
Pilots Men’s Soccer look to bounce back with a win when they return home to Merlo Field on Saturday to play the University of the Pacific.
Women’s Soccer:
Pilots Women’s Soccer played at home last Saturday against Cal Poly State University. Despite the rainy conditions, the Pilots won 2-0 making their record 6-1-2 and marking their fifth straight shutout.
The Pilots defense once again left no gaps and the shutout earned goalkeeper Bre Norris a third WCC Player of the Week award. The Pilots were flying straight from kickoff and the breakthrough came when Nedya Sawan scored her third goal of the season in the third minute of the game. Sophia Mattice doubled their lead shortly after in the eleventh minute getting her first goal of the season.
Women’s Soccer looks to continue their defensive form and add another win when they play their first conference match away against University of the Pacific on Saturday night.
Volleyball:
Pilots Volleyball opened their West Coast Conference account last Thursday playing away at Santa Clara University. The Pilots secured a 3-2 victory.
The win improves their overall record to 6-7 and 1-0 in the WCC conference. The Pilots took the first set before losing the second and third. They then inspired a comeback and won both the fourth and fifth sets. Lia Hawken, Lucia Busso and Maui Robins led the attack finishing the game with 16, 13 and 12 kills respectively. On the defensive side, Maddie Corpe added a team-high of ten digs.
The Pilots then traveled to San Francisco to play against the University of San Francisco last Saturday. They lost 3-1 in a tough match making their overall record 6-8 and their conference record 1-1.
Pilots Volleyball will play their next match at home on Thursday against Loyola Marymount University.
Women’s Cross Country:
The women’s cross country team traveled to race at the Roy Griak Invitational in Minneapolis, Minnesota last Friday. The Pilots were led by junior Laura Pellicoro who placed seventh overall with a time of 21:12.5. The rest of the scoring for the Pilots five were Maebh Richardson, Janelle Avilez, Mie Nielson and Teresa Perez. The Pilots finished in fourth place with 113 points overall.
Pilots Women’s Cross Country will race again on Saturday at the Charles Bowles Invitational in Salem, Oregon.
Men’s Cross Country:
The men’s cross country team also traveled to race at the Roy Griak Invitational last Friday. The Pilot Men were led by Danny Abdala who finished in twelfth place overall with a time of 24:35.4.
The Pilot’s scoring five consisted of Abdala, Jona Bodirsky, Matt Strangio, Nolan Hosbein and Teddy Buckley. Overall, they finished the contest in fourth place with 111 points one point behind New Mexico.
The Pilots also competed at the Dellinger Invitational last Friday and were led by Nate Lantz, who finished eleventh overall with a personal record time of 24:07.6. The scoring five all earned PR’s and consisted of Lantz, Isaac McGill, Cohen Williams, Pedro Vazquez and Lakelin Conrad.
The Pilots finished the Dellinger Invitational race in sixth overall with a score of 164 points.
Pilots Men’s Cross Country will return on Saturday to race at the Charles Bowles Invitational in Salem, Oregon.
Women’s Tennis:
Last week brought the start of the women’s tennis season and junior Sally Pethybridge and senior Iva Zelic both played games at the SoCal Intercollegiate Championships.
Pethybridge played last Thursday and earned a tough comeback win against San Jose State University senior Carolina Millan to advance her to the round of 16. Zelic was knocked out of the singles tournament in her match last Thursday against California State University-Fullerton’s Josie Usereau.
Pethybridge and Zelic are the 33rd ranked doubles team and are the number two seed in the tournament draw.
Stay tuned for more updates next week about how the Pilots Women’s Tennis players fared in the tournament.
This concludes the third Pilots Weekly RoundUP. Keep your eyes peeled for more news and updates about University of Portland Fall Athletics.
Aidan Hyde is a sports reporter for the Beacon. He can be reached at hydea25@up.edu.
