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NCAA women's tournament Rapinoe's two strikes power Portland past Arizona 4-0 and into quarterfinals.
The Pilots (21-0-1) will host fifth-ranked defending NCAA champion Notre Dame (22-2) Friday night. The Irish advanced by winning their 13th straight 5-2 over visiting Yale. Notre Dame has outscored opponents 60-3 during its winning streak. The Irish "are defending national champions and they're the team that is suppose to win," Portland coach Garrett Smith said. "We're going to try to take care of business next weekend and we've seen them a lot over the years. They don't change. They've got just as much talent as we do and we're just going to see who is better on the night." Against Arizona, Portland maintained a majority of the possession and held a 29-3 shots advantage, including 13-3 on frame. Senior striker Christine Sinclair was held without a goal for only the second time this season, without a goal or assist for the first time. Still, the Pilots had no shortage of scoring opportunities. "I was amazed to find out that (Sinclair) hadn't scored a goal," UA coach Dan Tobias said. "I thought for sure she had scored. She's just a great player and I think it's got to be a lot of fun to play with her because she is one of the most unselfish players that I've seen. How she moves without the ball, how she sets up her teammates, it's just impressive and she's just a huge asset for Portland." Both of Rapinoe's goals came from above the penalty area. "I like to shoot from long and I was just on target tonight," she said. "Our fans are unbelievable. We have so much confidence on our home field." Rapinoe started things off in the 18th minute, taking a pass from sophomore forward Natalie Budge, Rapinoe settled the ball at the top of the penalty arc and blasted a line drive into the left side of the net for a 1-0 lead. Budge also assisted on Portland's next goal in the 28th minute. She penetrated into the right side of penalty area and sent a short cross to Huie, facing the right post from about 12 yards. Huie drove a left-footer into the top right corner to make it 2-0 with her fourth goal of the season and the 30th of her career. The Pilots continued to pressure, but did not manage to secure the decision until the 84th minute, when Rapinoe sent a shot from just above the yard into the top right corner of the net for her 12th goal of 2005 and a 3-0 lead. Hume capped the scoring in the 90th minute, just after entering the game. Replacing Sinclair seconds earlier, she put away a rebound from a Rapinoe shot for her first goal of the season and a 4-0 margin. "It's fun for us because we like to see everybody get involved and make a difference in the game and (Hume) did exactly what we needed her to do," Huie said. Portland had three shots hit the goal frame and the Arizona defense cleared another shot off its goal-line in the second half. Arizona sophomore goalkeeper McCall Smith finished with eight saves. UP junior keeper Cori Alexander stopped all three shots she faced to earn her ninth shutout of the season and the team's 15th overall. "We did our very best and left it all out on the field," Smith said. |
