Lady Vols seek next NCAA step

The University of Tennessee women's soccer team run in the NCAA College Cup is in familiar territory. Getting to new ground is the objective tonight.

The Lady Vols are in their fifth Sweet 16 after defeating Furman and Clemson in Knoxville last weekend, but UT has never advanced to the quarterfinals. Standing between the Lady Vols and their first appearance in the Elite Eight is the University of Portland, winners of two out of the last five national championships.

"Portland is a very strong team," Lady Vols coach Angela Kelly said. "We'll need to come out aggressive and play our game."

And get used to the time change. The game will start at 10 p.m. EST.

The two programs have met just once with the Pilots winning 5-0 in 1998. The result tonight at Merlo Field could be similar. No. 2 seed Portland (17-3-0) has held its opponents scoreless since Oct. 13. Despite the insatiable urge to end the streak, Kelly said the Lady Vols (15-4-2) will stick to the mantra that has carried them all season.

"It's always defense first," Kelly said. "We would love to go out there and get an early goal, but defense is the key. We will be very aggressive, too though, and jump all over our opportunities and take it to them."

Junior forward Kylee Rossi echoed her coach by saying the team was extremely excited on their trip to Oregon - which began with a 4:30 a.m. wake-up call on Wednesday - but would not be intimidated by the task at hand.

"We're approaching it like any other opponent," said Rossi, the 2007 SEC Offensive Player of the Year. "We can't get caught up in thinking 'Oh, wow, this is Portland' and be scared. It's just like any other game.

"We have nothing to lose but everything to gain."

Second-seeded Portland is riding a 10-match winning streak. The Pilots opened the tournament with a 5-0 win against Denver then blanked Colorado 1-0. Their home crowd has become accustomed to seeing winning soccer and is well known for vocalizing its support. Portland is the only school other than North Carolina to own multiple national championships.

"We hear the crowd up here gets pretty crazy, but we won't let it bother us," Rossi said.

Rossi will be looking to pull away from others in the Tennessee record books. Her winning goal in double overtime against Clemson last Sunday pushed her into first on the program's goals -scored list.

Portland has four national team players on its roster: sophomore forward Michelle Enyeart (U.S. Under-20), senior midfielder Angie Woznuk (U.S. Under-23), sophomore goalkeeper Kelsey Davis (U.S. Under-23) and senior defender Stephanie Lopez (U.S. Senior).

The Pilots are led by Enyeart's 33 points on nine goals and 15 assists, but nine players have scored at least twice this season for Portland. Woznuk, the WCC Player of the Year, has contributed eight goals and seven assists, while sophomore forward Kendra Chandhoke shares the lead for goals with nine.

Davis' 0.35 and the team's 0.45 goals against averages each rank second in the nation. The Pilots have not allowed a goal for 750 consecutive minutes.

Tennessee also enters with a strong force guarding its net. Junior goalkeeper Jaimel Johnson posted shutouts in both NCAA games, giving her 10 on the season. Only two, however, came at the opponent's home stadium.

One such road shutout came in a 0-0 tie at Southern California on Sept. 16. The Trojans went on to defeat Portland 2-1 two weeks later.

© 2007, Knoxville News Sentinel Co.
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