Sept. 11, 2009

Box Score

PORTLAND, Ore. - It was a tough night of soccer for the No. 11 Fighting Illini, as Illinois fell 4-1 to No. 2 Portland on Friday in front of 3,524 fans at the Nike Portland Invitational. Sophomore midfielder Marissa Mykines scored Illinois' lone goal, while All-American midfielder Michelle Enyeart had a hat trick to lead the Pilots in one of the most intense environments in collegiate soccer.

"The bottom line is that we got beat by a better team tonight," head coach Janet Rayfield said. "I don't think we played our best, but Portland was on and dangerous and they have tremendous finishing. It was a great learning experience for us. They caused us problems we haven't seen from anyone else yet, and there are some things for us to solve as far as our midfield and defenders working together. We will get better as a result from this game."

Portland (6-0-0) attacked early, with two shots on goal in the match's first two minutes. Enyeart's first goal came in the 6th, as she connected on a shot from inside the box to the lower left corner of the goal. Kendra Chandhoke made the score 2-0 in favor of the Pilots in the 12th, heading in a corner kick by Danielle Foxhoven.

Illinois (3-2-1) had chances in the following minutes, as freshman Niki Read and Mykines both had shots on goal. Enyeart scored her second goal of the match in the 29th, as she beat Illini goalkeeper Alexandra Kapicka to the far post after a through ball by Sophie Schmidt. Portland carried a 3-0 lead into halftime, out-shooting Illinois 8-4.

The Illini came out with more fight in the second half, with Mykines making the score 3-1 in the 61st on a shot from 18 yards out from the right side of the field.

"It was a world-class goal," Rayfield said. "She beat two defenders at the top of the box and drove a ball that hit the far post and went in. It was an unsaveable finish. (Mykines) was by far our most dangerous player tonight."

The score didn't stay 3-1 for long, as Enyeart completed her hat trick 30 seconds later on an assist by Hailey Kreminski, putting Portland up 4-1 for good.

Kapicka made seven saves for Illinois, while Portland keeper Kelsey Davis saved five shots. The Pilots out-shot the Illini 18-11 for the match and owned a 4-1 advantage on corner kicks. Mykines, Read and senior Jackie Santacaterina had two shots on goal apiece for Illinois, while all five of Enyeart's attempts were on goal.

Mykines' goal was just the second goal allowed by Portland in six matches. The Illini have yet to be shut out this season. The last time Illinois gave up four goals was on Sept. 7, 2007 in a 4-2 defeat to UCLA.

Illinois has one more match in the Nike Portland Invitational, facing Washington on Sunday at 2 p.m. CT at the Clive Charles Soccer Complex. Earlier tonight, the Huskies fell to Miami (Fla.) by a score of 1-0.