LAKE OSWEGO, Ore. – For the second year in a row, University of Providence lacrosse (5-8, 4-1) is in the PNCLL Division II Tournament, and this time the Argo's postseason will start against University of Portland (6-6, 3-2). UP enters the tournament as the 2-seed out of the PNCLL North, the team's highest ever postseason seed, while Portland is the 3-seed out of the South.
In 2017, the Argos were the North's 3-seed in the program's first playoff appearance and did good things with that opportunity. The team beat Southern Oregon 12-9 in the opening round before falling to University of Montana in the PNCLL semifinals.
Portland is returning to the postseason for the first time since 2015. Before their current two-year absence, the Pilots made five straight PNCLL tournaments, including championship game losses in 2011 and 2013.
The history between the two teams isn't very helpful. The last time the two teams played was in 2015 when the Argos program was still in the infantile stages and Portland easily handled the Argos 16-4.
While technically the Pilots have the better overall record in the regular season, that is largely the product of a grueling schedule set down by the Argos. UP played seven ranked teams in a 13 game season and six of those games came on the road. Working through such a difficult schedule is something UP Head Coach
Fred Boekel hopes has prepared his team for the playoffs.
"I think the guys are ready. We played a really tough schedule early in the season kind of building for this moment," Boekel said. "Hopefully they are battle tested. I think we have some resiliency and hopefully, they know that they can compete with really anyone in the country."
On paper, both teams have run their offense through one player. Portland's sophomore attack Andrew Krantz has 31 goals on the year, accounting for 26.2 percent of the team's goals. The Pilots are also extremely reliant on their attack, with only 27 goals coming from the midfield or defenders.
The Argos are even more of a one-man show on paper, with senior attack
Josh Smith scoring 42 percent of the team's goals on the year with a program record 51 goals. Those numbers have evened out a big in the last few weeks of the season, however, with at least six players scoring in each of the team's last five games.
Both teams also come in with goaltending a significant strength. Portland boasts two keepers with a save percentage over 60 percent. The Argos have only used one goalkeeper all year, junior
Jeremy Smith, and despite playing against some of the best offenses in the country, his season save percentage is also at 60 with 15 saves per game.
"He's hand down one of the best goalkeepers I've ever seen, both in college and when I've played overseas,"
Josh Smith said of
Jeremy Smith. "It's incredible to watch him play and with our solid defense, it's really hard to beat him."
In the last five games, Smith and the Argo defense has allowed just 6.6 gpg, while the offense has scored 13 gpg.
The entire PNCLL tournament is being played at Lake Oswego High School in Lake Oswego, Oregon with the first taking place on Friday, April 27. The UP vs Portland game will be played at 5 p.m. MST.
If the Argos take down the Pilots, they will move on to play (19) The College of Idaho the following day. UP has already played the Yotes in 2018, losing to them in Caldwell, Idaho 14-7.
