PORTLAND, Ore. – For Brandon Cambridge, it started with a phone call. The Vancouver Whitecaps wanted to check in on his plan. Cambridge's plan hadn't deviated. He was going to spend one more year with the Portland Pilots, a team he just helped lead to the NCAA Tournament Quarterfinal after a 15-3-3 season, both bests since 1995.
And why wouldn't he stay? Cambridge had just scored 12 goals and added seven assists – a significant improvement over his second year – for one of the best teams in the country. Those totals added up to 31 points, the most by a Pilot since Steven Evans in 2012. It was the highest goal total for a Pilot since 2013. He led the WCC in those two categories as well as game-winning goals with five on the year. Nationally, he was sixth in points and game-winners and seventh in goals. All of that was good enough to earn him WCC Offensive Player of the Year, All-West Region First Team and All-American Third Team honors.
During that phone call, he found out that his stellar year did a lot more than just earn him some accolades. The reason Vancouver, his homegrown team that he played with as a part of the MLS academy, had called was because his stellar year had caught the eye of another team. Vancouver was sending his homegrown rights to Charlotte FC, the MLS expansion side that had just joined the league this past season.
Charlotte doesn't just want Cambridge's rights though. They want to see him play.
"I was pretty surprised," Cambridge said. "As the weeks went on, it developed, and they showed more interest and eventually traded for my rights. And then that's when I was like, wow, this could get real here. And then I got the contract, and I was super excited."
He told Portland head coach Nick Carlin-Voigt about it, then his family. They all felt the same; it was time for Cambridge to take the leap.
Brandon Cambridge signed a professional contract with Charlotte FC on Wednesday, becoming the fifth Pilot to make the leap to MLS and the eighth to play professionally since 2017. He joins a group that includes players like Benji Michel, Rey Ortiz, Paul Christensen and more. After coming to The Bluff with the explicit goal of getting the chance to play at the next level, he can officially say mission accomplished.
Becoming a pro has always been the goal for Cambridge. It's why he was at least a little weary about coming to Portland. The decision to leave the MLS system and go to UP meant risking the college landscape, banking on that being his best route to the pros. It was a route he wasn't sure was right for him, until Carlin-Voigt sold him on it.
"I was a little skeptical," Cambridge said. "Was I throwing away my pro career? Is this really the right decision? And Nick really sold me. He said, 'Hey, I've had guys like Benji (Michel) that have similar playing styles that went to college and turned out to be pros.' So he told me from the start that if I wanted to be a pro that Portland was the place to come."
With hindsight, one can say the move has paid off, but there were roadblocks along the way, not the least of which was spending his freshman season in the thick of some of the hardest times during the pandemic. He came to Portland and found out that play had been suspended in the fall, with hope that it'll happen in the spring.
"We were doing COVID trainings where we couldn't touch each other," Cambridge remembered. "It was different for me, but I knew the whole world was also doing it at the time."
It was an awkward time, and truthfully, the on-field soccer from the Pilots wasn't much to remember. Cambridge played fine – he scored four goals and added two assists – but the Pilots failed to qualify for the tournament and felt particularly dissatisfied with how the year went. For Cambridge, what was more important were the bonds he built with his team and the athletics department.
"Just being able to stay in the apartments with the guys, play FIFA every day, it was a different experience than I've had," Cambridge said. "It was really just us and a couple other athletic teams, so right off the bat, I actually knew all the athletes, which was pretty cool."
The times spent in the Haggerty apartments helped Cambridge form a relationship with the community. The next season brought the good soccer. He got to play in front of college fans for the first time, feeling the electricity that comes from playing in front of a near-sellout crowd at Merlo Field. It's a feeling Cambridge says he'll always cherish.
"It's number one," Cambridge said about where Merlo ranks in his mind. "I've never been in a field or stadium like that, where you can feel the energy as much as we do with our fans and the atmosphere they create."
The Pilots improved significantly, going 11-7-1, qualifying for the tournament and advancing to the second round. But Cambridge still felt unsatisfied. Around the start of WCC play, Cambridge suffered a pulled groin that affected him the rest of the year. He missed time during a crucial conference stretch, a brutal feeling for a competitor like Cambridge.
"That was probably my hardest time," Cambridge said. "The team was playing and I… wasn't able to play so I had to watch from the sidelines. That was really tough for me, but I think that it made me come back stronger."
Cambridge wouldn't let Year 3 slip away. He worked with a shooting trainer, Ethan Sonis, to improve his finishing. He worked with Carlin-Voigt as well, watching film to find where he thrived and what he needed to improve. He changed his mindset, focusing more than ever on how he can be the best player for the Pilots right now.
"I realized after my first year that the more you are expecting the end, the less that you enjoy the present," Cambridge said. "Just trusting the process and enjoying your time wherever you are and putting the most work in you can – that can get you to your goals."
Unsurprisingly, this year was filled with some of Cambridge's favorite moments wearing a Pilot uniform. There were great individual performances that stood out. He scored a hat trick in a 4-0 win over the Santa Clara Broncos, just the fifth for the Pilots since 2016. Although, it was one short of the season high for a Pilot this year; CJ Tibbling had four against Utah Tech earlier this season.
"I remember getting home and I was like, 'I just missed you (to Tibbling),'" Cambridge said with a smirk. "Yeah, we laughed about it."
Even without the haul, there were plenty of great goals, including the UCLA score. In front of almost 3,000 fans at Merlo Field, Cambridge chipped in a clinical goal from just outside the 18-yard box that soared perfectly over the UCLA keeper and into the top-left corner of the goal. It sealed a 2-0 win for the Pilots, their third in a row against UCLA in the last five years.
But beyond the individual achievements, it was a great team year. For Cambridge, the Sweet 16 win over Western Michigan was special. It was a game of firsts and lasts. It was the first time the Pilots had ever hosted a game beyond the second round. It was the first time the Pilots had won a Sweet 16 match since 1995. And even though he didn't know it at the time, it was the last time that Cambridge would put on a Pilot uniform at Merlo.
"Seeing Delentz (Pierre) put that header in and then just running over to the fans and seeing how many people were there to support us, the boys were super excited," Cambridge said. "I don't think there will be another experience like that."
This team was special, and it's not lost on Cambridge. It's a team that featured, outside of Cambridge, nine All-WCC players, three All-West Region honorees and the WCC Co-Goalkeeper of the Year. Upon reflection, Cambridge knows that this will not be the last soccer a lot of these guys will play.
"We've always tried to paint a picture and see where everyone would be in five or six years," Cambridge said. "I think we very well could be looking back at this team and seeing five or six guys have pretty good careers in a pro environment."
Cambridge will certainly be one of those players. It's a challenge he's ready for. He's played against first-teamers before, doing so with the Whitecaps back when he was 16 and 17 years old. Cambridge is a different player – a better one – than that teen version of himself. He's ready to take on the challenge that comes with the professional ranks. Cambridge knows it's a business, and now he'll have to fight hard to earn his keep.
"I know that the real work is now and I have to prove myself so I can keep my spot on that roster," Cambridge said. "I'm excited to take my game to next level and bring what I did this year to Charlotte."
