Cougs to host Pilots in 2022 home opener

Fresh off loss, Cougs seek first win in front of Cougar nation

COLE QUINN

The WSU women’s soccer team practices early in the morning, Aug. 22, at Lower Soccer Field.

JAKE HULL, Evergreen reporter
August 24, 2022

WSU soccer (0-1) is set to take on the Portland Pilots at 7 p.m. on Thursday at the Lower Soccer Field

This will be the 14th time the Cougs and Pilots will play a soccer match. The Pilots have won all 13 previous matches since the first in 1990. The last five meetings between these two teams have all been in Portland, Oregon with the latest being in September 2015 when the Pilots won 2-0.

In 2012, the Pilots won 6-5 in a penalty shootout after the game ended 2-2 in regular time. WSU has never scored more than two goals against the Pilots in program history, while Portland scored eight, five, four and three goals three times in the matchups.

WSU is coming off a 2-1 loss to No. 9 ranked Michigan Wolverines last week. WSU dominated most of the game on the offensive end, but let Michigan get a few counter-attacking opportunities where the Wolverines capitalized and ultimately shut the Cougs down in the second half to win.

The Cougs are led by Margie Detrizio this season as she has the only goal of the season so far. Reese Tappan has one assist on the season for WSU.

Defender Mykiaa Minniss played all 90 minutes last game for WSU, which she will most likely do for the rest of the season as she is the backbone of the Cougs’ defense.

This season the Pilots are 1-0-1. This will be Portland’s first away game of the season. On Aug. 18, the Pilots kicked off their season with a 2-2 draw to the Utah Utes. Portland had 13 shots with six being on target in the contest.

On Sunday, the Pilots hosted the Eastern Washington Eagles where Portland won 6-0, scoring three goals in both halves. The Pilots had 25 shots and 13 on target in the game. The Pilots leading goal scorer so far this season is Aubrey Turner with two goals. Kayla Adams and Cally Togiai both lead Portland in the assist category with two each.

The Pilots are a solid offensive team, scoring eight goals in two games while only giving up two goals. If WSU wants to win their first game of the season, they need to shut down Portland offensively and use the midfield play to their advantage to create chances against the Pilots’ defense.