This past weekend in Portland was the first International Women’s Sports Film Festival. The project was the brainchild of Jenny Nguyen, who founded the city’s iconic Sports Bra, the first women’s sports bar in the nation.
I spoke at one of the panels, which was dedicated to the 2005 Portland Pilots women’s soccer team and what that team meant to the city, its rich soccer culture and women’s sports.
A friend of mine named Joe Kuffner is producing a film on the team called “Unmatched.” And one of the questions that arose was whether that 2005 team was among the best ever.
Interesting question! So I went digging.
The 2005 Pilots squad included Christine Sinclair, Megan Rapinoe, Rachael Rapinoe, Stephanie Cox Lopez, Angie Woznuk Kerr, and was anchored by goalkeeper Cori Callahan (née Alexander), now an assistant coach at Cal.
The Pilots went 23-0-2 and became just the second Div. I team to complete an undefeated season.
Portland won the 2005 NCAA College Cup, defeating UCLA 4-0. Sinclair had a brace while Woznuk and Rapinoe, who was just a freshman, also scored.
When the Pilots returned to Portland, the city held a downtown rally for the players and hundreds showed up. This was astounding to me: How many women’s teams in that era were feted by their city in a public downtown event? It would have never happened to a championship women’s team in Utah, or Kansas or Texas back then. Even the celebrated North Carolina teams were mostly honored with campus events, not citywide parties.
The team led the nation in attendance that season, and would go on to top the attendance list for the next 10 years, a remarkable feat for a private school of around 4,000 people.
Sinclair set the record for most goals in a single season with 39, a record that still stands today.
But it’s bigger than that for Portland
This Pilots team cannot be viewed in a vacuum. The team quickly became part of Portland’s soccer culture, but it also contributed to the city’s well-known embrace of women’s sports. That spirit lives on today through the Thorns, the Portland Fire, the Sports Bra, and even the sizable fan bases that support women’s basketball at Oregon and Oregon State.
Many point to Clive Charles, the English coach who led the 2002 Pilots to their first national title, as a driver of the sport’s unique place in the city’s zeitgeist. Charles was coach of both the men’s and women’s teams at UP, and made sure the women weren’t given short shrift. He had an eye for talent, mentoring Sinclair even as a youth. He recruited the Rapinoe sisters, which Rachael said touched off interest from other coaches — he was that well respected.
Charles never got to see the Pilots win their second College Cup. He passed away from cancer in 2003.
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So were they among the best ever?
I mean, the 2019 Stanford team that featured Naomi Girma, Cat Macario, Sophia Wilson and Katie Meyer was epic.
But, in terms of cultural significance to its home city and women’s soccer overall, I’d argue that the 2005 Pilots deserve a place among the best. I’m a bit biased, obviously. But the fan base that followed that team went on to support Sinclair and the Portland Thorns, which had its own lengthy run as the NWSL’s top drawing team among supporters. And it’s a spirit that lives today.
The panel I was on included Kuffner, players Rachael Rapinoe and Rebecca Meierbachtol. It was moderated by Oregon Public Broadcasting’s Kyra Buckley.
Links
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Arsenal exits Women’s Champions League
Millie Bright announces retirement
Leah Williamson signs new Arsenal deal
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