Nov. 5, 2005
Portland, OR - The Saint Mary's women's soccer team dropped their regular season finale to the No. 2 ranked Portland Pilots 3-0 on Saturday night in Portland, OR. With the loss the Gaels ends the regular season with an 8-8-3 overall record and a 2-3-2 West Coast Conference mark.
Portland wrapped up the regular season West Coast Conference championship with the win and finish with an 18-0-1 overall record and a 6-0-1 WCC mark.
Portland will enter the 2005 NCAA playoffs as one of only two undefeated teams in the nation, joining Penn State which suffered its first blemish with a 3-3 tie against unranked Michigan on Thursday. Portland had actually clinched the outright league title before kickoff as Pepperdine downed Santa Clara in an afternoon match, but Christine Sinclair again stole the headlines by tying Tiffeny Milbrett and Mia Hamm for No. 2 in NCAA Division-I history with 103 career goals.
Saturday marked the final regular season game in the career of Sinclair, as well as fellow seniors Lindsey Huie, Kelsy Hollenbeck and Colleen Salisbury. The four seniors are the last remaining members of the 2002 NCAA Championship squad and were honored in an emotional ceremony before kickoff.
Portland opened the scoring at 7:22 when sophomore forward Natalie Budge led Sinclair into a one-on-one with Gaels' goalkeeper Alicia Artuso. Sinclair took a touch and then finished a 16-yard shot from the right to the left side netting.
Budge tallied her seventh assist of the season less than two minutes later, sending a short cross to Woznuk just inside the penalty box. Angie Woznuk settled with one bounce and sent a side volley, right-footed shot over the head of Artuso for a 2-0 lead.
Sinclair made it 3-0 at 11:52 with a blast from the top of the box that deflected off of a Saint Mary's defender and snuck inside the right post.
Portland outshot the Gaels 13-2 in the match and 6-1 in shots on frame. Junior goalkeepers Cori Alexander and Ruth Gilliam each played a half in recording the Pilots 13th shutout of the 2005 season.
Saint Mary's (8-8-3, 2-2-2 WCC) vs. Portland (18-0-1, 6-0-1 WCC) Date: Nov 05, 2005 Attendance: 1836 Weather: Showers Goals by period 1 2 Tot ------------------------------- Saint Mary's........ 0 0 - 0 Portland............ 3 0 - 3
SCORING SUMMARY: 1. 7:22 POR SINCLAIR, Christine (31) (BUDGE, Natalie) - slot pass, 16yd finish to left 2. 9:09 POR WOZNUK, Angie (4) (BUDGE, Natalie) - side volley, top shelf 3. 11:52 POR SINCLAIR, Christine (32) (unassisted) - shot deflected off defender to rt post Shots: Saint Mary's 2, Portland 13 Saves: Saint Mary's 3 (Artuso, Alicia 2; TEAM 1), Portland 1 (GILLIAM, Ruth 1)