Proactive Pilots give program a tweak

Published 12:00 am Thursday, August 16, 2018

With 17 returnees and eight players who started at least 10 games last season, the University of Portland women’s soccer team that kicks off its 2018 season at 7 p.m. Friday by playing host to Northern Arizona includes plenty of familiar faces.

But this is a new-look program undergoing its first significant change in 15 years. Former Pilots standout Michelle French is the coach, having replaced Garrett Smith, who was dismissed after 15 seasons.

Her first team will feature players — including four of six newcomers — recruited by Smith and his staff. Junior midfielder Jasmine Garibay (Fresno City College) and freshman defender Emily Collier (Salem/Portland Thorns Academy) are the only two recruits added by French and her staff, which includes assistants Dominic Doty, Maite Zabala and Rachael Rapinoe (volunteer) and director of soccer operations Elli Reed.

“We’re experimenting (with positions). Right now, we just need to fill spots. I don’t think we have every single player in their best, most ideal position across the board,” French says. “There’s a lot of competition for playing time in different positions.”

Goalkeeper Rachel Lusby is one of only two seniors. Lusby holds the program records for saves per game (5.05 last season and 4.18 for her career), which says something about the challenges the Pilots have faced over the Beaverton native’s first three seasons.

Junior forward Kimberly Hazlett, who scored twice in the Pilots’ 3-1 exhibition win on Aug. 10 over the University of British Columbia, was one of 11 players selected to the preseason all-West Coast Conference team.

The Pilots were picked to finish seventh out of 10 schools. French declined to discuss team goals for 2018, but it’s a safe bet the targets are well beyond last fall’s 2-7-0 conference record.

Hazlett is one of five returnees who scored a goal last season, when the Pilots managed only 11 goals in 19 matches. Midfielder Larkin Russell, now a junior, tied for the team lead with two goals. Sophomores Taryn Ries, Ellie Walker and junior Natalie Muth each scored one goal in 2017.

Hazlett, an all-WCC second-team selection, and midfielder/forward Ries are two players French believes can help Portland improve its scoring. Ries came into camp in tremendous shape and is playing with a ton of confidence, according to French.

Free kicks and corner kicks will be important scoring opportunities.

“If we do our job on set plays, we have a really good heading presence across the board,” French says.

Injuries have cost several players training time this month.

Junior midfielder Rylee Seekins and freshman midfielder/forward Destinee Manzo are working their way back from previous knee injuries. Russell, sophomore defender/midfielder Ellie Winkelman, junior midfielder Brianna Miyama and freshman midfielder Lily Schlake have missed some training.

Such absences have compounded the challenge of preparing for a season consisting of 20 matches over 11 weeks — especially with the relatively small roster of 23 (20 field players).

French wants to see tenacity, especially when defending. She says her team has work to do defensively.

Lusby and Muth, the captains, are strong leaders, the coach says. French points to the assertive play of Hazlett and Ries and the steady presence of sophomore central defender Olivia Dendinger as examples of players who lead through their performance.

“We’re still a few games off from feeling really comfortable with the way we want to play,” French says.

But she says she is confident that as the Pilots learn to play the proactive style of soccer she envisions, “we’re going to make teams adjust to the way we play.