“We were so unique as a university at the time investing in women’s soccer when most universities weren’t really investing in women’s sports. That allowed us to be nationally relevant. We started getting national recruits after [
Christine] Sinclair, and then we win a national championship, and you start to see the huge crowds come and all of the sudden we have people sitting in the parking lot watching us practice. Preseason events with 500 people lining up for autographs. That really led to Portland becoming Soccer City, USA, and the Thorns did a great job bringing some of those players over and establishing the foundation.”
--
Jason Brough, the University of Portland's senior associate athletic director, on the significance of UP women's soccer, which took off under the late
Clive Charles in the 1990s with
Tiffeny Milbrett and
Shannon MacMillan and won NCAA titles in 2002 with Sinclair and 2005 with
Megan Rapinoe and Sinclair. The retiring Rapinoe and Sinclair will face off for the last time in NWSL regular-season play in Portland when Sinclair's Thorns host Rapinoe's OL Reign on Saturday. (
The Oregonian)
