PORTLAND, Ore. --- The Portland Pilots men's soccer team, which is ranked No. 20 in the nation, officially began the 2019 season with their first training of the fall, which took place on Wednesday morning on the Franz Campus on the River. The Pilots are coming off their second playoff visit in the past three years.
 
17 letterwinners and seven starters are back for the Pilots, who also add the nation's ninth-ranked recruiting class. Headlining the returners are senior midfielders Rey Ortiz and Gio Magana-Rivera, who both earned all-west region honors last season. In limited action, Ortiz collected three goals and three assists, while also landing on the All-WCC Second Team. Magana-Rivera was an all-conference first-team selection after producing two goals and a team-best five assists.
 
Also returning is all-league defender Esteban Calvo, who finished last season with one goal and three assists. The senior helped the Pilots record five shutouts in 2018.
 
Portland's 10 newcomers are the program's third straight top-10 recruiting class.
 
Head coach Nick Carlin-Voigt begins his fourth year at the helm of the Pilots. He's guided the team to a pair of NCAA Playoffs in his three seasons, with the Pilots reaching the second round last fall. Joining Carlin-Voigt on the bench are first-year assistant coaches Ben Zemanski and Austin Nyquist. Zemanski enters the coaching ranks after a lengthy MLS career, which featured a five-year stint with the Portland Timbers, and Nyquist was previously the Pilots' director of performance analysis. Emerson De Oliveira is in his fourth year as the program's director of goalkeeping.
 
The Pilots take the pitch on Sunday when they host the Oregon State Beavers in an exhibition match at Merlo Field, with kickoff set for 6 p.m. The Pilots play another friendly at home on Friday, Aug. 23, when Utah Valley visits The Bluff, and the regular season begins on Aug. 30 against Colgate at Merlo Field.

Scroll below for pictures from Portland's first official practice.