Miguel-Angel Hernandez, junior goalkeeper for the sixth-ranked Portland men’s soccer team, grew up in Perris. No, not Paris, France but the one in Riverside County in Southern California.
This is his fourth year living in the Rose City, more than 1,000 miles from home, and high-profile, high-pressure games like the one the Pilots will play Friday night in a West Coast Conference showdown against No. 12 San Diego make it all worthwhile.
“It’s so much fun,” Hernandez said when asked about the anticipation he feels for Friday night’s 7 p.m. kickoff on Merlo Field at Clive Charles Soccer Complex. “This is why we come to a school like Portland . . . to play in these big games.”
And this is a big game, a duel between two teams that, between them, have lost just two conference matches not to anyone but each other since the start of the 2022 season.
Two teams ranked among the nation’s top-10 by the NCAA’s RPI computer. Two teams that have advanced to the NCAA Tournament three times each over the past four years.
Portland (8-0-2, 1-0-1 in WCC) was No. 1 in the United Soccer Coaches national rankings last week for the first time in the program’s 48-year history. The Pilots were the conference’s first top-ranked team since Santa Clara in 1999.
Portland dropped five spots in this week's rankings after a tense 1-1 draw on Saturday at LMU.
“We’re not an overnight success story,” said Pilots head coach Nick Carlin-Voigt, who guided his squad to a West Coast Conference title in his debut season in 2016 and is 98-46-22 in his 10th campaign.
“It’s quite an accomplishment for a small Catholic school in north Portland to be the No. 1 ranked program in the entire country in an era of Power 4 dominance and conference mergers and ballooning budgets,” he said. “No one really picked us to do anything and we never let the outside world influence what we do internally here. That journey to extraordinary and our ability to unlock our full potential means a lot.”
Their credentials are impressive. They have outscored their first 10 opponents by a margin of 27-4 and opened this season with six straight shutouts. Off to their best start since 1988, the Pilots have played 20 consecutive games without a loss — the second-longest active streak in the nation — dating back to Sept. 22 of last year.
USD (7-1-3, 1-0-1), the three-time reigning West Coast Conference champion, has allowed just one goal over the past four games. The Toreros tested themselves by playing four top-25 opponents in non-conference play, emerging with a 2-1-1 record in those matchups.
They trek north this week fully aware that although they have won the past three conference crowns, Portland has prevailed in the past two head-to-head meetings. The Pilots won 2-0 last year on the road against a San Diego team ranked No. 3 in the country.
So, there will be some juice when the action kicks off Friday night.
“Honestly, as a player you always want to be in those big moments,” said San Diego senior defender Ethan Warne, echoing Hernandez’s sentiments.
A native of Norwich, England and one of three returning first-team All-WCC players on the USD roster, Warne expects an atmosphere at Portland similar to what he’s familiar with back home.
“We’re going to be up for it. I’m sure they are, too,” Warne said. “It’s not hatred, it’s respect. But at the same time, we don’t like Portland, Portland doesn’t like San Diego. The lads love playing in big games like that and Portland’s a great environment to play in. It reminds me of playing back in England, the crowd giving it to you. It’s going to be a great game.”
Both coaches welcome the game to show off the quality of soccer in the West Coast Conference and are impressed by their rival.
“They are the real deal,” USD head coach Brian Quinn said of the Pilots. “I’ve seen them several times and they’re one of the best five teams I’ve seen this year across the country. There’s no argument from me that they (were) ranked No. 1.”
Quinn, a native of Belfast, Ireland, has a nine-year record of 65-43-23 with the Toreros. He said there’s a lot that gets his attention when breaking down the Pilots’ game.
“I like their goalkeeper but I like their ability to transition and deny chances,” Quinn said. “They’re obviously very good at going forward and scoring goals. They’re creative. The big intangible is how hard they work without the ball. They’re very good.”
Returning All-WCC forward Joe Highfield and Ohio State transfer David Ajagbe lead Portland with six goals apiece. Carlin-Voigt calls senior defender Sebastian Hernandez the team’s emotional leader.
Hernandez the goalkeeper (no relation to the defender) made a game-altering kick-save in the Pilots’ scoreless draw at St. Louis, but Portland’s defense is so good that he’s only faced 19 shots on goal in 10 games.
“Those are the best games,” Hernandez said. “If I don’t have to do too much, that’s perfect. It shows how well-positioned we are and how much our defense can take away from attackers.”
When it matters, Hernandez has been up to the task, allowing just 0.44 goals per game. “He understands fully the life of a goalkeeper being called on to do nothing for 30 or 40 minutes, then make a big save,” Carlin-Voigt said. “He’s played fantastic.”
Carlin-Voigt said USD’s ability to keep its team intact has been a key to sustaining success.
“And they’ve dealt with having the bullseye on their back, which is a great credit to them,” he said. “We know they have really good players, they have a good system, they’re used to having a winning culture.”
The Toreros are a veteran squad, with seniors Warne, midfielder Cesar Bahena and forward Samy Kanaan all back as first-team all-conference selections. Midfielder Noah James, a junior transfer from Western Michigan who grew up a half-hour from San Diego, has been a solid addition.
Adam Salama, a transfer from Rider, began the season as USD’s No. 1 goalkeeper before being injured. UCLA transfer Lucca Adams, a native of Sao Paulo, Brazil, had no prior game experience but stepped in and has surrendered just two goals in six games. “We feel comfortable with both of them,” Quinn said.
Quinn’s team advanced to the third round of the NCAA Tournament a year ago before losing 1-0 to eventual national champion Vermont. He hopes USD can get back to the postseason and go further still.
First things first. “What we’re trying to do is win a WCC title, not try to win a fourth WCC title. Stay in the now,” Quinn said. “But those guys are used to success. Since they’ve been here, they’ve won games and gotten better.”
Hernandez, the Pilots’ goalkeeper, expects the Toreros to arrive in Portland eager to flip the outcome of their two previous meetings.
“We went to their home and we beat them last year so they’re probably going to come in with a chip on their shoulder,” he said. “It just makes us even more gritty. The goal this year is to win it. That’s our motivation in every game, to set the tone and be the hammer, not the nail. I think it’s going to be a really good game.”