Watch Live on TheW.tv | Live Stats

When Yogi Berra said, "It's getting late early," chances are he wasn't referring to the WCC men's soccer schedule, which relies on a seven-match, non-round robin format to decide its conference champion and the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament.
 
The WCC conference race is a sprint to the finish, with each match taking on a sense of urgency along with title ramifications. Friday night's game between USF and Portland at Negoesco Stadium features two teams tied atop the conference table after week one, as the Dons downed Santa Clara, 2-1 while the Pilots drubbed Gonzaga, 5-1 last Sunday. Saint Mary's and San Diego also were victorious in their conference openers.
 
The Dons postseason aspirations are cradled in the last six matches of the season and the sense of urgency hasn't been lost on USF head coach Eddie Soto.
 
"It's tough when you only get to play each team once so every game is like a championship match," said Soto. "Especially playing at home, we are going to do everything we can do get our three points. It's about points right now and we have to make sure we don't give up any."
 
Both sides enter Friday's match on a roll. The Dons have won three straight, including a 2-1 victory over No. 12 Stanford on Sept. 23. USF has scored 10 goals in its last four matches, including four successful strikes by senior forward David Garrett, whose six goals on the season ties him for the conference lead along with the Portland duo of Eddie Sanchez and Benji Michel.
 
"We've been much more consistent in all phases of our game," said Soto. "Our defense has been really tight and we are creating a lot of chances."
 
Portland, under the direction of first-year head coach Nick Carlin-Voigt, is 7-3-1 overall on the year rides a three-match winning streak into Friday night's contest. The Pilots have tallied 12 goals during their current three-match winning streak, including a season-high five in a 13-minute stretch last Sunday afternoon at Gonzaga, and have scored a conference-high 25 goals on the year. Sanchez recorded a hat-trick against the Zags which landed the senior WCC Player of the Year honors for the second time this season.
 
The Dons defeated the Pilots, 3-1 in last season's meeting in the Rose City, as USF scored the first three goals of the contest, two coming off the foot of Garrett and the other supplied by Sean Bowman. USF has won the last two matches in the series, outscoring Portland, 6-3 in the process.
 
At halftime of Friday night's match, USF will pay tribute to its 1966 NCAA Championship-winning team. Many of the players from the team, along with legendary USF head coach Steve Negoesco, will be introduced at halftime.
 
USF will wrap up the weekend on Sunday with a home match against Gonzaga, which brings a 6-4-1 (0-1 WCC) record into Friday night's match at Santa Clara (5-5-0, 0-1 WCC).