2019 Highlight Video (Produced by Portland Men's Soccer)

The Portland men's soccer team handed out their annual end of the year awards recently, and this year they introduced the newly created Dennis O'Meara MVP Award, in honor of the former UP head coach who passed away last February. The team awards are voted on by the players.
 
Earning the inaugural Dennis O'Meara MVP Award is senior center back Francesco Tiozzo. During his two years with the Pilots, Tiozzo played a key role in helping the team become one of the top defensive teams in the nation. Portland posted seven shutouts this fall, and Tiozzo was part of 13 clean sheets during his career.
 
Tiozzo was also named the team's Defensive MVP, and in the fall he landed on the All-West Region Third Team and earned All-WCC Honorable Mention.
 
Junior Luke Hendel, who collected team highs of five goals and three game-winners this season, was voted as Portland's Offensive MVP. Additionally, Hendel earned All-West Region Third Team recognition this fall, and he was named to the All-WCC Second Team.
 
Freshman All-American Jacobo Reyes was selected as the team's Freshman of the Year after finishing with 11 points during his first year on The Bluff. The 11 points were the most among the WCC's freshmen, and Reyes was fifth overall in the league in assists. Reyes also landed on the West Coast Conference All-Freshman Team and earned WCC Honorable Mention recognition.
 
The Pilots voted Brian O'Hara as the team's Most Improved Player, and Easton Embley took home the Colby Trah Teammate of the Year Award.
 
2019 also marked the end of a remarkable run for Portland's senior class, which posted four straight winning seasons and went an impressive 31-7-4 at home. It's the first four-year winning stretch for the program since 1999-2002.
 
The seniors, who were head coach Nick Carlin-Voigt's first recruiting class, reached the NCAA playoffs twice, advanced to the second round in 2018, and won a WCC Championship.
 
"The seniors helped build a special culture that connected with the community in a real way," Carlin-Voigt said. "We had many wonderful, memorable victory nights at Merlo and the magic was alive around the program. They were part of our first WCC championship in 2016 and were integral to help achieve a record breaking 2018 season that saw us rise to a national ranking of fifth, while hosting our first NCAA tournament home game since 2002. They are going to leave The Bluff with numerous life skills that they will apply to help make their communities better as future leaders."