NOVEMBER 04, 2007
Commence happy dance.
The University of Portland tallied their seventh straight win and fifth consecutive shutout today with a 2-0 victory over Pepperdine, upping UP's record to 14-3-0.
But even more exciting is the fact that, with today's win, UP clinched the West Coast Conference title and earned an automatic berth in the 2007 NCAA playoffs. Mind you, UP would've easily made the playoffs anyway, but earning an automatic berth via a conference title was a super spiffy way to do it.
And have I mentioned that UP had a newbie goalie this year and played most of the season minus five of their starting players? Two UP starters were in China playing in the World Cup and missed 2/3 of the season as a result and three UP starters sustained serious injuries just weeks into the season and will be out for the rest of the year.
Or, in other words, UP had a new goalie and played most of the season minus half of their starting lineup and still won the conference title and earned an automatic playoff birth. Holy guacamole! That's damn impressive! Most teams wouldn't be able to post a winning record under those circumstances, much less blaze into the playoffs as one of the top teams in the nation. Happy, euphoric sigh. Is it any wonder I love these guys?
Now there's just one more regular season game next weekend and, thankfully, it will be at home and then it's on to the playoffs!
Oh, and ESPN just did 2 articles on UP. One is about the legacy of Clive Charles, UP's legendary coach who died of cancer in 2003, and how Clive's legacy has helped UP deal with the tough challenges of this season. And the other article is about the Villa Drum Squad - "the unofficial, unconventional and occasionally partially unclothed student pep band" at UP. Both are good reads and it's nice to see a tiny school like UP get some love from the big sports media.
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