"This Week in Big Sky Football"

Another installment of "This Week in Big Sky Football" is available for your listening pleasure. Guests this week are Idaho State coach John Zamberlin, Northern Arizona running back Alex Henderson and David Coulson, executive director of FCS Football for the Sports Network.

The weekly conference call with members of the media and Portland State head coach Jerry Glanville is also up.

Enjoy!
 

Eco-art happenings this week in Portland

by Bianca Blankenship

As part of National Sustainability Education Week, some events are being held on and off campus this week that should be fun.

This Wednesday at Ivy School in northeast, you can take a West African dance class from 6-7:30 pm and/or a West African drum class from 7:30-9 pm. The dance class asks for a suggested donation of $10-15 and the drum class asks for $15.

If you're not feeling the African rhythms, you can head out Thursday to Bagdad Theater and Pub where the Wild and Scenic Environmental Film Festival is happening at 7 pm. Doors open at 5:30, tickets are $8, and the event is 21+. Check out the trailer below:

PSU hockey: Live blogging to earn our keep

Sometimes we here at the Vanguard are forced to earn our cheap plastic media credentials by doing some crazy thing called reporting. Personally, I find it rather presumptuous and demanding, but I really like the pass. It's shiny, and I'm easily amused.

So, tonight we're at the Valley Ice Arena in Beaverton, bringing you, our dear readers, a live-blog glimpse of the second in a two-game series between the Portland State hockey club and the team from the University of Oregon.

Last night's match-up ended in favor of the Ducks, who ran away with the game early with a 5-2 lead after two periods. Halfway into the third, two PSU goals in under a minute made it an interesting 5-4 game, but the Viks couldn't get the puck into the net to tie it up and Oregon skated off the ice with a 6-4 win after an empty-net goal with 10 seconds left.

Read more after the jump!

Next stop: Soccer championship

Call them hard working. Call them efficient. But whatever you do, call them the regular season conference champions.

That's the title the Portland State women's soccer team earned after closing the season out with a 4-1-2 conference record, and 10-6-3 overall. The Vikings continue into the postseason as conference champs for the second time in school history this weekend, when they will host the Big Sky Championship at PCC-Rock Creek.

The first semifinal match will feature Idaho State against Eastern Washington at 1:30 p.m. on Friday. The first-placed Vikings will then square off against fourth-seeded Northern Arizona at 4 p.m. in a rematch of last year's semifinal. In that meeting, Northern Arizona trumped the Viks with a 1-0 victory.

The winners of each semifinal will have a day to rest before facing off in the championship match on Sunday at 11:00 a.m., with the winner earning the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

This marks the third consecutive postseason appearance by the Vikings' soccer squad--a first in school history. In both 2007 and 2008, the Viks fell in the semifinals. The last time Portland State won the conference title was in 2004 with a record of 4-1-1. That year they lost to Weber State, 2-0, also in the semifinals.

Hockey Fight Friday

We're going to keep this going. Why, you ask. Because we can, that's why.

This Week in Big Sky Football

The weekly audio from the conference call with the media and Portland State football's head coach Jerry Glanville is up and ready for a listen. 

Sacramento State's head coach starts off the file, and after Glanville is Big Sky Commissioner Doug Fullerton.

Glanville, who's birthday was today, also appears on this week's edition of "This Week in Big Sky Football." 

Joining him on the bill are Sacramento State offensive lineman Clint Lessard and David Coulson, executive director of FCS football for the Sports Network.

Enjoy, and HAPPY BIRTHDAY JERRY! Can I call you Jerry? Coach? J.G.?

 

Thoughts on the Northern Colorado football game

by Allison Whited, Vanguard staff

I'm going to continue my new tradition of providing personal commentary about the week's football game in a very relaxed way. I apologize for missing last week, but it was a hectic weekend with family coming in.

At the two practices I was able to attend this week, there was a different tone than that of weeks past. It was as if everyone had a chip on his shoulder, which I suppose they really should.

Offensive coordinator Jim Craft was ripping into his guys for a variety of reasons, mostly I think, because of some poor execution and failed follow-through.

One of the more interesting things I saw was a skirmish between receiver Ray Fry and defensive back Daniel Kinney. Fry was angry about a hit Kinney put on a receiver along the sidelines, and he definitely let Kinney know about it. 

In the end, they had to be separated and I noticed Fry missing from practice the next day.

Click below to read more after the jump