Christine Sinclair scored three times in the first 28 minutes as the University of Portland Pilots took control of the match early and never looked back in a 4-0 win over the University of Richmond in a match played in front of 2,090 at Portland's Merlo Field. Wanda Rozwadowska had the other goal for the Pilots.

From the opening whistle, this match was all Portland as the Pilots rarely lost control of the ball throughout the match. Four minutes in, Portland's Christine Sinclair and Wanda Rozwadowska each had chances to score inside the box, with Sinclair putting a header into the left side netting, and Rozwadowska's shot from an angle being snared by Richmond's goalkeeper, Megan Cox. The Pilots kept the pressure on, with Rebekah Patrick's low shot from the top of the box being saved by Cox, and Rozwadowska's shot from 15 yards out going just wide left.

Starting in the 14th minute, the Pilots had three straight shots that went barely over the bar, from Patrick, Lindsey Huie, and Kristen Rogers. Then, in the 20th minute, after a cross from Rozwadowska somehow trickled through the box untouched, Erin Misaki collected the ball and fed the ball into the box to Sinclair, who hit a shot from about 10 yards out at an extreme angle that went over Cox's head and just under the bar, and the Pilots had a 1-0 lead.

Sinclair slips the ball past Megan Cox to give the Pilots a 2-0 lead

The Spiders were not having any luck with building an attack into the Pilots box, and though they had put two shots on goal to this point, both had been from outside the box and had little chance of scoring, as both were collected easily by Pilots goalkeeper Lauren Arase.

It wasn't long before the Pilots would widen the lead, when just two minutes after Sinclair's first goal, a through ball from Huie had Sinclair in the box alone, and she pulled the Spiders goalkeeper out enough to slip the ball by her, and the Pilots had bolted out to an early 2-0 lead.

Not content with only two goals, Sinclair took only five more minutes to complete her hat trick. A low cross into the box by Rozwadowska was controlled just six yards out by Sinclair, who shot diagonally to the far side of the net, and Cox had no chance as Sinclair had her hat trick just 22 minutes into the match, and the Pilots had a 3-0 lead. The Pilots had a few more chances to score off shots by Sinclair and Rozwadowska, and Richmond had a few more shots from outside the box by Lyndal Hegamyer and Meredith Johnson, but none of the shots threatened to find the net, and at halftime, the home eleven had a 3-0 lead. In the first half, the Pilots had outshot Richmond by a 19-4 margin.

Wanda Rozwadowka cuts back just before scoring to make it 4-0 Pilots

Sinclair started out the second half hungry to get a fourth goal, which would have set an all-time NCAA record for goals in a tournament match. She came very close to doing so in the 48th minute when her header off a cross went barely wide right. In the 52nd minute, Sinclair would help to put the Pilots up 4-0, but this time with an assist. From near the corner of the box, Sinclair played a soft chip into the box to near the penalty spot, where the ball was controlled by Rozwadowska, who pivoted quickly to give her a clear shot at net, then hit a perfectly placed shot that Cox could only watch go into the net, and the Pilots had widened the lead to four goals.

In the the 57th and 60th minute, Sinclair had two golden opportunities to score her fourth goal. First, her shot from the top of the box went barely a yard over the bar. Then, Sinclair had a clean breakaway and her chip over a charging Cox also barely managed to skim over the top of the bar. That would be the last shot on goal Sinclair would have in the match as she was substituted out two minutes later, and had to settle for only tying the all-time NCAA playoff record with three goals.

In the 62nd minute, Portland's Huie had a breakaway of her own as she found herself unmarked at the top of the box, but her shot was saved by Cox. Then, on the counterattack, Richmond's Whitney Sikes tried to catch the Portland goalkeeper out of position and she hit a shot from well outside the box at an angle, but Arase was up to the task as she easily collected the shot.

Rebekah Patrick goes down just outside the Spiders box

In the 71st minute, Richmond had their best chance to score of the match when Edda Gardarsdottir hit a free kick from 30 yards out that went just barely wide left. It was the sixth and final shot on goal that the Spiders would have, all six being from outside the 18-yard area.

Both team had substituted heavily in the 2nd half, and the only scoring threat either team had in the final 18 minutes was a chip attempt by Portland's Colleen Salisbury in the 80th minute that required a diving save by Cox at the far post to keep the shot out. But the match had been one-sided from the start, and in the end, it was just too much of Christine Sinclair, and the Pilots controlled attack, and the University of Portland advances to the NCAA Women's Cup quarterfinals with a 4-0 win over the University of Richmond Spiders.

Sinclair also tied the NCAA tournament record with seven points, and has scored seven goals in the the Pilots' three playoff games this year. Sinclair now has scored 12 goals in just 8 career playoff games, which puts her only three goals short of Mia Hamm's 15 goals, which spanned four years.

The Pilots now advance to play Stanford in a quarterfinal match that will be held in Palo Alto, California on Saturday, November 30 at 7:00 pm.