As the UCLA women’s soccer team cruised through the first three rounds of the playoffs, Portland has been steadily knocking off its opponents.
With the two meeting in the round of 8 Saturday, the Bruins hope to continue cruising past the Pilots into a seventh-straight College Cup berth.
“I’m big on trying not to make games seem bigger than they are,” coach Jill Ellis said. “The players know what’s on the line for both teams. We’d love to go back to College Cup, and we know we have a very difficult opponent standing in the way.”
Coming off a 3-0 victory over Virginia last week, the top-seeded Bruins (20-2-1) host No. 2 Portland (21-1) at Drake Stadium in the NCAA quarterfinals Saturday.
Over the last decade, the Bruins and Pilots have garnered something of a rivalry.
This week’s match marks the sixth time the two teams have faced off in the postseason. UCLA owns a 7-1 overall advantage on the series and is 5-1 against Portland in the playoffs. But Portland’s one playoff win came in a 4-0 victory of the Bruins in the 2005 semifinals at College Station, Texas.
“It’s always been a terrific game ““ a very close, intense game,” Ellis said. “Good rivalry between the two schools. We have a lot of respect for them and their program and their program’s history.”
UCLA last played the Pilots in a 1-0 win during a regular season match in Portland, Oreg.
The UCLA-Portland series featured some thrilling matches with UCLA going 2-0 in 2007, winning 2-1 in overtime during a regular season match and 3-2 in double overtime in the NCAA quarterfinals at Drake Stadium.
“I don’t envision Saturday being anything less than a terrific game,” Ellis said.