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Encouraged and confident after a an impressive opening weekend at home, Colorado College faces a pair of daunting tests in the Pacific Northwest this week when the Tigers travel to Seattle for the Husky/Nike Invitational at the University of Washington.

They meet the University of Portland at 4:30 p.m. (PT) on Friday, then take on tournament host UW at 1:30 p.m. Sunday. Both the Pilots and Huskies earned NCAA playoff bids last season, and both have emerged among the nation's top ranked teams in 2009.          

CC is off to a 2-0 start and ranked 23rd nationally by SoccerAmerica.com after defeating Drake University, 3-2, and Washington State University, 2-1, at Stewart Field last Friday and Sunday. Portland, defending champion of the West Coast Conference, is 3-0 overall after three consecutive shutout victories including a 2-0 triumph at Washington on Sunday. UW, which tied for third place in the Pac-10 in 2008, is 1-1 after beating Seattle University (2-1) and losing to the Pilots last week.                     
   
Colorado College and Portland  have met on six occasions in the past, but not since 1999 when the Tigers evened the series at 3-3 with a 2-1 victory at home. CC is 1-3-1 in five previous encounters with Washington, the most recent having occurred on Sept. 7, 2003, when the Huskies escaped Stewart Field with a 1-0 victory.

Junior forward Tiffany Brown, who scored Sunday's game-winning goal against WSU and added three assists to record five points in the two matches last weekend, was named Conference USA Co-Offensive Player of the Week on Monday.