Women's Soccer Weekly Notebook
A strong weekend with two three-goal matches and a hat trick gives Pacific momentum into their final weekend as they face Puget Sound and Willamette
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THIS WEEK IN PACIFIC WOMEN'S SOCCER
PACIFIC AT PUGET SOUND
Match No. 19/Away Match No. 10
Fri., Nov. 6, 11 a.m., Peyton Field at Baker Stadium, Tacoma, Wash.
Live Stats: www2.ups.edu/athletics/live/soccer/xlive.htm
WILLAMETTE AT PACIFIC
Match No. 20/Home Match No. 10
Sat., Nov. 7, 11 a.m., Lincoln Park Stadium
Live Stats: GoBoxers.com
Live Audio Webcast: goboxers.com/multimedia/webcasts.cfm
YAHTZEE! BOXERS ROLL THREES IN WINNING WEEKEND
Two three goal matches and a three-goal performance by Ashley Kanda resulted in a winning weekend for the Pacific women’s soccer program. The Boxers will finish up the 2009 season this weekend with a pair of tough matches, traveling to nationally ranked Puget Sound on Friday before playing the season finale on Saturday at home against Willamette.
BOXER BYTES
* Pacific registered their fifth shutout of the season on Saturday, using goals by Tianna Homad, Jenna Matsumoto and Cheryl Yasumoto to beat Lewis & Clark 3-0.
* Ashley Kanda scored the 12th hat trick in Pacific history on Sunday, bringing Pacific back from one-goal deficits each time to lead the Boxers to a 3-3 tie with Pacific Lutheran.
* The goals scored by Tianna Homad and Cheryl Yasumoto against Lewis & Clark were the first goals of the seaon for either player and the first of Homad’s Pacific career.
* With the six goals scored in the two matches, Pacific now has 22 goals on the season. The total is the most for the Boxers since the 2005 season.
* The Boxers’ three ties in 2009 are the most since the 2003 season and the team’s six victories are the most since 2005.
* If Pacific can maintain their sixth place position in the Northwest Conference standings or improve, it will be the team’s best finish in conference since 2003.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
PUGET SOUND
The Loggers enter the week tied for first in the NWC with Whitworth at 16-1-0 (39 pts.) and are 16-1-0 overall. They were ranked fifth in last week’s NSCAA Division III National Poll. Puget Sound continued a four-match win streak with victories over Pacific Lutheran on Wednesday, 2-1, and George Fox on Saturday, 4-0. The Loggers outshot the Lutes 21-2 as Theresa Henle scored two goals. The Loggers were just as dominant against the Bruins, outshooting George Fox 23-8 as Janece Levien scored two goals and had an assist. Levien continues to be one of the top scorers in the nation with 19 goals, 6 assists and 44 points. As a team, the Loggers have outscored opponents 55-6. Starting goalkeeper Kallie Wolfer owns a 0.38 goals against average, allowing six goals in 1,408 minutes. Randy Hanson is in his 13th season as Loggers’ head coach.
ALL TIME SERIES: Puget Sound leads 29-1-2 AGAINST BOSWELL: Puget Sound leads 6-1-0
LAST MEETING: Puget Sound won 5-0 at Forest Grove on Oct. 11, 2009
WILLAMETTE
The Bearcats enter the week in third place in the NWC at 7-6-1 and are 8-8-2 overall. Willamette took a loss and a tie to the eastern Washington schools over the weekend, falling to Whitworth 2-1 on Saturday and playing to a 1-1 tie with Whitman on Sunday. The Bearcats could not break through until late against the Pirates with Alex Batzer scoring in the 89th minute. Willamette was outshot by a 10-9 margin, but held a 5-4 advantage in shots on goal. Against Whitman, Rachel Janny scored the equalizer in the 89th minute to force overtime but could not score again. Willamette outshot Whitman 19-16. Stephanie Skelly leads the Willamette offense with six goals while four other players have three goals apiece. Starting goalkeeper Kelli Gano owns a 1.06 goals against average, allowing 10 goals in 849 minutes. Hilary Arthur is in her second season at Willamette head coach.
ALL TIME SERIES: Willamette leads 42-4-3 AGAINST BOSWELL: Willamette leads 7-0-0
LAST MEETING: Willamette won 2-1 in Salem, Ore., on Oct. 10, 2009
PACIFIC NEWS & NOTES
A HAT TRICK FOR ASHLEY KANDA: Pacific needed some scoring to secure a 3-3 tie with Pacific Lutheran on Sunday and Ashley Kanda (Jr., Kaneohe, Hawaii) did it in the most dramatic of fashions. Kanda scored the 12th hat trick in school history, bringing Pacific back from a one-goal deficit each time in the 3-3 deadlock. It was the second Pacific hat trick in as many seasons. Teammate Jenny Novak (Jr., Dexter, Ore.) scored the Boxers’ last hat trick against George Fox on Oct. 22, 2008. The effort also ties Kanda for the Pacific single match record for goals. Debbie McInally scored the first hat trick in school history, tallying three goals against Lewis & Clark in 1988. The goals give Kanda four for the season. She ranks seventh in the Northwest Conference statistics in both shots (47) and shots per game (2.72).
LAST MINUTE STARTER, FIRST TIME SCORER: Tianna Homad (So., Seattle, Wash.) was a last minute insertion by Head Coach Joy Boswell into the starting lineup against Lewis & Clark on Saturday and needed just 81 seconds to make the most of it. Homad scored off an assist by Jenny Novak 1 minute, 21 seconds into the match to open scoring in the 3-0 shutout of the Pioneers. The goal was the first of Homad’s Pacific career. The sophomore has seen her playing time increased as the season has progressed. She has 13 matches to her credit, including four starts. While she didn’t start against Pacific Lutheran on Sunday, Homad played 103 minutes in the 3-3 tie.
ANOTHER SHUTOUT: Goalkeeper Brittany Hartmann (Fr., Portland, Ore.) continues to hone her skills and build a foundation for her Pacific career. Hartmann scored her fifth shutout of the season Saturday in Pacific’s 3-0 victory over Lewis & Clark. Hartmann made three saves in the victory while coming up with six stops against Pacific Lutheran on Sunday For the season, Hartmann has amassed a 1.38 goals against average, allowing 24 goals in 1,559 minutes with 89 saves.
SOLIDIFYING THE OFFENSE: Pacific appears to have turned the corner when it comes to finding, creating and finishing scoring opportunities. The Boxers have 22 goals on the season, the most for a Pacific program since the 2005 season and is eight more than the 14 scored during the 2008 campaign (a Pacific record for fewest goals scored). Pacific continues to rank second in the NWC with 299 shots and 16.6 shots per game. The 299 shots is a school single season record (previous was 253 during the 1999 season) and the 16.6 shots per game is on pace to break a single season record (record is 13.35 set during the 2001 season).
GOING EXTRA TIME: Sunday’s match against Pacific Lutheran was the fourth overtime match of the season for the Boxers. Three of those matches have ended in a tie while the fourth was a 3-2 loss to Whitworth on Oct. 25. Pacific finished with four overtime matches in 2008 (with three going to double overtime) and saw five matches go extra minutes in 2007.
HOME SWEET HOME: Unlike their male counterparts who will spend the final three matches of the regular season on the road, the Pacific women will enjoy playing two of their final four matches at home. The Boxers play the season finale at Lincoln Park on Sat., Nov. 7, against Willamette. The Boxers have fared decently at Lincoln Park Stadium this season with a 3-5-0 record on the home pitch in 2009.
NIGHT LINE: Pacific had found in 2009 that the nights are a great time to play soccer. The Boxers won both of their night matches this season (defined by the NCAA as matches that start after 6 p.m.). Both wins came at Lincoln Park Stadium, where the home team now owns a 3-1-0 record under the lights after victories over Northwest Christian on Sept. 12 and George Fox on Sept. 16. Since 2005, Pacific is 3-4-0 in night contests. A third schedule night contest, against Oregon Tech on Sept. 5, was moved to 5 p.m. in order to accomodate the Boxers’ travel schedule.
I’VE BEEN EVERYWHERE NOW, I’VE BEEN EVERYWHERE: Pacific put in some frequent traveler miles in their first four weeks, traveling over 1,600 miles in two road trips over the first seven matches. Over the Labor Day weekend, the Boxers covered 837 miles. The trip included a overnight stops in Klamath Falls and Eugene and the matches in Klamath Falls and Olympia, Wash. The trek is, by far, Pacific’s longest of the season. The next longest journey, the Whitman/Whitworth trip completed last weekend, ran 772 miles.
SPEAKING OF ROAD TRIPS: Pacific spent a lot of time away from home over the first half of their Northwest Conference schedule. The Boxers played six of their first eight NWC matches on the road. The lone home contests during the stretch were an Oct. 3 matchup against Pacific Lutheran and an Oct. 11 showdown with Puget Sound. The positive side of that is that Pacific has played six of their last eight matches at Lincoln Park Stadium, including a four-match home stand over the final two weeks of October and the Nov. 7 season finale against Willamette.
SOCCER WEBCASTS SCHEDULED: The schedule of four women’s soccer webcasts this season will conclude with the Willamette match on Sat., Nov. 7. Devin Higgins handles the play-by-play duties for the second straight season. A senior media arts major at Pacific, Higgins also works for ESPN Sportsradio 1080 The Fan (KFXX-AM) in Portland and is sports editor for the Pacific Index student newspaper. To listen in, log on to www.goboxers.com/multimedia/webcasts.cfm.
PACIFIC PICKED SIXTH IN NWC POLL: Northwest Conference coaches have picked Pacific to move up to sixth place according to the league’s preseason poll released in August. The Boxers received 35 of a possible 90 points in the poll, beating out Pacific Lutheran, Linfield and Lewis & Clark. Pacific finished seventh in the conference standings in 2008, one point behind the sixth place Lutes. Puget Sound was a runaway favorite to repeat as NWC champion. The Loggers earned all nine first place votes for a perfect 90 points. Puget Sound has won the last seven NWC championships.
Posted by Blake Timm (timmbr@pacificu.edu) on Nov 2, 2009 at 4:38 PM
