12 VANGUARD ■ TUESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2010 ■ SPORTS
SPORTS
SPORTS ■ TUESDAY, OCTOBER 5, 2010 ■ VANGUARD 13
EDITOR: ROBERT BRITT SPORTS@DAILYVANGUARD.COM 503-725-4538
Timbers and Whitecaps fight to a draw
Women’s volleyball stung by first conference loss Sac State Hornets best Vikings in five sets Rosemary Hanson Vanguard staff
It took Sacramento State five sets to do it, but the Hornets walked off their home court with a 3-2 win on Saturday to hand Portland State women's volleyball its first loss of Big Sky Conference play. Portland State fought hard and finished with set scores of 23-25, 25-23, 25-22, 12-25 and 15-12. The Vikings now stand with an 8-7 overall record, and are 4-1 in conference. With the win, Sac State advances to 9-10 overall, and 2-2 in the Big Sky. Portland State began the first set with a quick point, but a combination of Viking attack errors and kills from the Hornets’ Kayla Beal rapidly gave Sacramento State a 6-2 advantage. Portland State answered back with a run and eventually saw its biggest lead of the set, at 15-10, off an attack error from the Hornets’ Olivia Moss. Not giving up, Sac State kept Portland State at 15 and scored four unanswered points to cut the Viks’ lead to 15-14. In the end, though, it was the Vikings who claimed victory in set one with a kill from freshman setter Garyn Schlatter. In the second frame, Sac State took both the opening point and the set victory. The Vikings got back-to-back kills from fresh-
Portland finishes regular season against its Northwest rivals
Big Sky women’s volleyball standings
Northern Colorado Portland State Montana Northern Arizona Sacramento State Idaho State Montana State Eastern Washington Weber State
Conf 4-0 4-1 3-1 2-1 2-2 2-3 2-3 2-3 0-6
Pct 1.000 0.800 0.750 0.667 0.500 0.400 0.400 0.400 0.000
man middle blocker Cara Olden and senior outside hitter Whitney Phillips to give them their biggest lead of the set, 15-9, but the Hornets rallied to make it a 17-all tie. Portland State pushed to the end to gain its last lead of the set, 21-19, off a Hornets attack error before Sac State took the set 25-23. The third set stayed close, but Portland State was never able to grab a lead in the 25-22 loss. The Viks pushed to a tied score 21-all from a kill by senior middle blocker/outside hitter Christie Hamilton. The Hornets quickly responded with a 3-point run and the winning kill from Beal. The Vikings dominated set four, going on an early 4-point run to bring the score to 7-2. Sac State did not hold the lead for the entirety of the set, and a final kill by Phillips gave the Viks a 25-12 set win to lock the game up at two sets each. The night came down to the fifth and deciding set. The Viks, not able to sustain the momentum from the previous frame, watched the Hornets take the deciding win. The biggest point difference
Overall Home 13-4 8-1 8-7 2-2 7-8 4-3 6-7 4-0 9-10 5-2 9-6 2-1 9-8 3-1 3-11 2-0 2-15 0-5
Away 2-2 3-5 1-2 1-3 2-4 1-4 3-5 0-8 0-6
Kevin Fong Vanguard staff
Streak W1 L1 W3 W2 W2 W1 L1 L1 L7
of the entire set was the final 15-12 Hornet victory. A kill from Phillips brought the Viks to trail by just one, 13-12, but she followed with a service error to put the Hornets up, 14-12, and going for matchpoint. A kill from Beal, her 18th on the night, ended the game and broke the Vikings’ five-match winning streak. Sophomore outside hitter Megan Ellis led the Viks with 18 kills of her own, and topped it off with 25 digs. Both were new personal bests for her, breaking her previous marks of 13 kills and five digs. For the first time this season, Phillips did not lead the Vikings in kills and came in just behind Ellis with 17 kills and 17 digs. Behind Phillips, senior middle blocker Lana Zielke chipped in 10 kills and blocked a career-high nine attacks. Schlatter dominated the floor in assists, pulling 38 of the team’s 58 total. Sophomore setter Dominika Kristinikova also posted a new career-high with 17 digs, which was just short of current libero Diana Villalpando’s 20 digs for the night. The loss puts the Viks in sec-
AARON LEOPOLD/VANGUARD STAFF
Zielke smooth: Senior middle blocker Lana Zielke made a career-high nine blocks Saturday and has a team-leading 66 this year.
ond place in the Big Sky standings, behind Northern Colorado, who holds a perfect 4-0 Big Sky record but has also played one less conference opponent. Portland State will return to
the Park Blocks this Thursday for a non-conference match against Seattle University in the Stott Center. The match is slated for a 7 p.m. first-serve. Two days
later, the Vikings return to conference action with a home meeting with Eastern Washington on Saturday. That match will also be held at 7 p.m. in the Stott Center. ■
August miller/VANGUARD STAFF
Eryn Brown: The freshman forward/midfielder has one goal in seven games played.
they host Eastern Washington at Hillsboro Stadium on Friday, followed by the University of Montana on Sunday. Going into Friday’s game, Utah Valley held a 3-7 record on the season and the Viks were 4-6. The two teams last met last season, when then-PSU senior Dolly Enneking made Portland State history by scoring both goals of the 2-0 win to become the Vikings’ record-holder for career goals. PSU took the early advantage on Friday off an early
gift from Utah Valley senior Lauren Bluth. While the Vikings attacked, Bluth and Wolverines senior goalkeeper Hailey Brown both went for the ball about eight feet out from the net; a miscommunication led to Bluth inadvertently heading the ball into her own goal. The teams played neck-andneck throughout the remainder of the game, with Utah Valley pulling slightly ahead in shots (21 shots compared to 19 attempts from the Vikings). However, Portland
Friday Portland State, 1 Utah Valley, 1 Hillsboro Stadium
Scoring summary Goal Time Team Scorer 1. 5:27 PSU UVU own goal 2. 83:39 UVU Ashley Burdett (1) Shots by period Utah Valley Portland State
1 2 10 3 8 9
OT O2 Tot 5 3 21 2 0 19
Saves by period Utah Valley Portland State
1 2 3
OT O2 Tot 0 0 4 4 2 11
2 2 2
Sunday Seattle University, 2 Portland State, 0 Seattle, Wash. Scoring summary Goal Time Team Scorer 1. 58:47 SU Kuttler, Kara (4) 2. 88:47 SU Ames, Ava (4) Shots by period Portland State Seattle U
1 2 0 3 9 9
Saves by period Portland State Seattle U
1 2 Tot 3 1 4 0 0 0
Tot 3 18
Portland State next hosts conference opponents Eastern Washington at 5 p.m. on Friday and University of Montana at 1 p.m. on Sunday. ■
NOW HIRING DESIGNER
Portland State women’s soccer extended its winless streak to five games with a draw and a loss in the two games played over the weekend. The Vikings, now 4-7-1 on the season, will begin the defense of last season’s regular season title when league play opens in the coming week. On Friday, after taking a one-goal lead over Utah Valley in the first half, the Viks allowed a late 84th-minute goal to tie the score at Hillsboro Stadium. As a result, the Viks had to leave the pitch content with a 1-1 draw against the Wolverines. On Sunday, Seattle University outperformed and outscored Portland State in a 2-0 victory at the Redhawks’ Championship Field. The reigning Big Sky Conference regular season champion Vikings kick off their 2010 conference campaign when
school. “I’m proud of their performance even though it didn’t result in a win.” The Viks then left the comfort of home to take on Seattle University in Seattle on Sunday. Going into the game, the two teams had drawn five of six meetings between the schools and Seattle led the series with one win. The Redhawks (9-4-0) have been in red-hot form this season, and came into the match on a four-game winning streak— two of which were against Big Sky opponents. The Vikings’ defense managed to keep the Redhawk’s offense at bay on Sunday, despite PSU being outshot 9-0 in the first half. Portland State earned three corner kicks during the period, compared to Seattle’s four, but were unable to make any of them count. In the second half of play, Seattle senior Kara Kuttler broke the deadlock in the 59th minute. Kuttler took the shot from 15 yards off a pass from teammate Monique Escalera. The Redhawks then added insult to injury when freshman Ava Ames scored an insurance goal in the 89th minute to put the final score at 2-0.
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Nilesh Tendolkar Vanguard staff
State had five corner kick opportunities compared to three for the Wolverines. In the 84th minute, Utah Valley senior Ashley Burdett drew the score level after firing a shot across Portland State goalkeeper Lainey Hulsizer’s goal. A junior with two starts this season, Hulsizer replaced senior keeper (and team cocaptain) Rachel Jarvis in goal at halftime for the second consecutive game. With a 1-1 stalemate at the end of regulation play, the game went into overtime. During the first period of overtime, PSU senior Emily Rohde had a shot denied by the Utah Valley crossbar. The left back’s shot bounced back on the turf, just inches from the goal line. During the dying seconds of the game, Hulsizer made some decisive saves against Utah Valley forward Haley Curtis to help the Viks hold on to a 1-1 tie. Head coach Laura Schott, last season’s Big Sky Coach of the Year, was happy with the resilience her team displayed in the game. “I thought we battled through some adversity and played extremely hard today,” Schott said in a statement released by the
E M A I l R E S U M E A N D S A M P L E S O F W O R K T O VA N G UA R D P R O D U C T I O N P DX@ G M A I L . C O M
Soccer extends winless streak to five games Viks draw against Utah Valley, lose to Seattle in weekend matches
The Portland Timbers headed north to play their final regular season game as a lower-division team, battling long-time rivals the Vancouver Whitecaps in a 2-2 draw at Swangard Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The match was a fitting climax to 10 years of competition in the Division 2 League, as both franchises will be promoted to the Major League in 2011. In front of over 5,000 energetic supporters, the Timbers and Whitecaps offered 90 minutes of fast-paced, back-and-forth soccer. Although both teams had already clinched spots in the postseason, no punches were pulled and each side came out swinging from the opening kickoff. A grueling and physical contest, the teams combined for 28 total fouls in a game that possessed all the drama and excitement of an Ultimate Fighting Championship match. The Whitecaps landed the first big blow. In the 27th minute, off a Vancouver
corner kick, midfielder Martin Nash (younger brother of the NBA’s Steve Nash) redirected the incoming pass off his head toward teammate Terry Dunfield, who then barreled into the crowd and knocked the ball past Timbers keeper Steve Cronin for the game’s first goal. Despite Portland controlling the ball and keeping possession for most of the first half, it was Vancouver that created the more dangerous scoring chances. The Whitecaps outshot the Timbers 13-7 for the game and held a 1-0 lead at halftime. Portland responded quickly to open up the second half. In the 46th minute, after a Vancouver give-away at midfield allowed Portland to push deep into the offensive third, midfielder Kalif Alhassan picked up a loose ball and quickly chipped a shot through the box and past the outstretched hands of Whitecaps keeper Jay Nolly. Portland took control in the 56th minute, when midfielder Ryan Pore skillfully weaved his way into open space on a Timbers counter-attack. With the Whitecaps’ backline on his heels, Pore sent a through-ball to forward Bright Dike, allowing Dike to get behind the defense and blast a shot into the back of the net for the 2-1 lead. However, Vancouver wouldn’t
stay down for long. In the 68th minute, midfielder Kyle Porter sent a beautiful bending cross into the box towards a crowd of Whitecaps players at the far post. Forward Cody Arnoux found the ball with his head and put away the gameequalizing goal. With the game knotted at 2-2, both teams continued to fight hard and play with desperation; the match closed with a flurry of action. In the 90th minute, Nash ripped a long arching shot from over 30 yards out towards the Timbers’ goal, causing keeper Steve Cronin to make a leaping, fingertip save. Portland had a chance to score in stoppage time, as forward Doug DeMartin caught a pass deep inside the Whitecaps’ box, sending a rolling shot just wide of the goal. With the draw, the Timbers finish the regular season on a 10-game unbeaten streak and will head into the eight-team playoffs as the No. 4 seed. Portland also wins the 2010 Cascadia Cup with a record of 2-0-2 against Vancouver this season. The Whitecaps fall to fifth in the overall standings, meaning Vancouver and Portland will meet in the first round of the playoffs. In an ironic twist of fate, these two bitter rivals, in their final season of D-2 Pro League soccer, will now face off in a
postseason rematch—a bigger stage, where the stakes will be much higher. The D-2 Pro League playoffs begin this week, with teams competing in a two-game, aggregate goal series. Each team will host one home game and the team with the higher total goals from both games will move on to the next round. Game 1 between the Timbers and Whitecaps is scheduled for 7 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 7, at Vancouver’s Swangard Stadium. Game 2 will be played 6 p.m., Sunday, Oct. 10, at the
University of Portland’s Merlo Field. Expect a grueling and intense series between the Timbers and the Whitecaps, as both teams will be desperate to end their final D-2 Pro League season on a high note. However, the sacrifice these players are willing to make for their heartfelt rivalry was perhaps best represented by Saturday’s final play. The Timbers earned the last scoring chance of the match in stoppage time, after a hard foul was committed just out-
side of the penalty box. A wall quickly formed in front of the goal, with players elbowing and jostling for position in front of midfielder Rodrigo Lopez, who would fire the ensuing free kick towards the human barricade. The shot ricocheted off the face of Vancouver defender Mouloud Akloul, sending him tumbling to the ground in pain. In order to prevent the possible game-winning goal, Akloul quite literally took one right on the chin. ■
PHOTO COURTESY OF DAVID JACOBSON
Sliding down the sidelines: Portland Timbers midfielder Ryan Pore avoids a hold and takes the ball past a defender.