soccerbuzz awards

the link is through the portland pilot website. soccerbuzz.com has named their all-american an freshman teams an our girls are very well rehttp://www.portlandpilots.com/sports/wsoccer/release.asp?release_id=4732presented! steph, angie, michelle, sophie, keelin an elli all made their teams, as they should! enjoy!

http://www.portlandpilots.com/sports/wsoccer/release.asp?release_id=4732

dang, i am still learning how to do this stuff. what i was trying to say is, we are very well represented!

Great job, fozzie. You beat me to it!

We are, indeed, well represented on the Soccer Buzz Magazine All-America teams as well as their Freshman All-America teams. It has to make you feel good about our "bright future", as Garrett has said. Having three Freshman All-Americans on Soccer Buzz, along with our other returning high level players, and what is shaping up to be a potentially incredible recruit pipeline for the next two years, just makes me feel real good, and
fortunate.

It's too bad that Kelsey didn't get on any of these honor teams. The voters must not have seen her game against UCLA. I guess goalies of top teams don't often get selected, since they don't see much action.

harryb,
while i agree with you that kelsey is deserving of all these awards, i think the voters souly go with gga. [goals against average]. an while kelsey's is very very good, her gga is not as good as other keepers because she playeys on a much better team then the keepers that surpasseded her. we all know the talent we have have on this team, an whether it is recognized nationally or not, we KNOW what we have!!!

I agree. The Pilots coaches always have taught "discipline, discipline, discipline," which means that everyone has a role to play and no one gets to be a "star" at the expense of the team. (See Graham Hays' write-up on what raised the USC women to a higher level.) This is what soccer is about at its highest level, but it means that players must sacrifice personal glory for the good of the team. For goalkeepers in particular, this can be tough when they are on a very good team. Still, as has happened with Angie and Michelle, the coaches at the highest level recognize players who understand team play, so they get their recognition by being invited to the senior national team camp. I think Kelsi will get her recognition, too. There certainly is no doubt in my mind that her game against UCLA was the best I've ever seen a college keeper play -- including Cori's games against Penn State and UCLA at the College Cup. Kelsi was spectacular over and over again. Although I think there are not very many in the media who really understand how soccer works, I do think that those at the very top have a pretty good idea who really can play and who can't. They'll have seen that game and will know what she can do.

I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and wish you and all Pilots fans, players, and coaches a Happy New Year!

i dont know how many of you are blazer fans. but i read an interesting column in the oregonian recently. their coach mentioned that they are becomming a 'fist'. i.e. the are becoming one as oppossed to being individuals. when i read that, i thought immediately of of our girls. they are the ultimate fist!!!

Great pick-up, fozzie. The Blazers are indeed becoming a "fist", and I agree that our soccer team has long been a "fist". If you ever want an example of this for your youth teams, take them to a Pilots match, as many coaches/parents do.

I have followed the Blazers since their inception, and can say with confidence that, like so many other professional teams, they usually just don't "get it". There just always seems to be key players who put themselves above team. This Blazer squad has a few "very special" players with tons of character as well as talent. They simply won't allow any attitude that is not team-first. (aka "The Fist"!)

Check out UPSoccerFanatic's post on this thread for a very well written reply on how great soccer team's best players will always sacrifice their own personal glory for the betterment of the team.