Men's Soccer

Portland Men's Soccer Ready For Quarterfinals

The Pilots host Furman in the NCAA Tournament's Quarterfinals on Friday

SAN BRUNO, Calif. No. 8 national seed Portland battles No. 16 Furman in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament Friday at 7 p.m. from Portland as the Pilots look to continue their memorable season in 2025 with a trip to the NCAA College Cup if they defeat Furman. 

The Pilots, who at one point this season were ranked No. 1 in the country, have enjoyed the benefit of not having to leave the friendly confines of Merlo Field throughout the tournament as the eighth national seed and No. 1 seed Vermont losing in the second round. 

Portland has only played Furman once before, a 2-0 loss in 2007. 

Portland has not lost at home this season, including a victory over 2025 West Coast Conference champion San Diego. After enjoying a first-round bye, the Pilots battled to a draw with Denver in the second round, advancing in penalty kicks. With the victory, Portland advanced to the third round for the first time since 2022 and for the sixth time in program history. In 2022, Portland advanced to the national quarterfinals before losing at Pitt, 1-0. 

Last Saturday, the Pilots won a program-record 12th home game in the third round with its 1-0 win over Grand Canyon. After sitting out the first 80 minutes of the match, Joe Highfield entered the game and netted the game-winning goal. 

The 2025 postseason is the 20th in program history for Portland. The Pilots have appeared in the national semifinals twice (1988, 1995). The last time a West Coast Conference team advanced to the College Cup was Santa Clara in 2003. The conference owns five national championships, four by San Francisco and one by Santa Clara. 

The West Coast Conference enjoyed a banner year with three teams earning bids into the NCAA Tournament in Portland, San Diego and Oregon State. In addition, for the first time in conference history, two West Coast Conference teams garnered national seeds and first round byes. San Diego was the No. 9 seed, losing to Grand Canyon in the second round. Oregon State hosted Washington in the first round, but lost to the Huskies in double overtime.