PORTLAND, Ore. – Merlo Magic was alive and well on The Bluff this season, with Portland Pilots Men's Soccer putting together one of the best seasons in program history. From regular season dominance to playoff success, the 2025 edition of the Pilots have etched their name into Pilot history.
 
To celebrate the many accomplishments of the 2025 team, let's take a look back at the year Merlo Magic flooded The Bluff.
 
2025 YEAR IN REVIEW

• The Pilots finished the season overall at 14-2-4, posting a winning percentage of .800. That's the highest of any Pilot squad since 1988.
• Portland finished the regular season at 13-1-3 and a perfect 11-0-0 at home. They were the only team in the nation to finish the regular season with 11 wins and no losses or ties at home.
• Portland put together a 23-game unbeaten streak that stretched back to the 2024 season. It was the longest unbeaten streak in program history and the second longest in the nation.
• Portland earned the No. 1 spot in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 poll, their first time ever ranking first in the poll and their first time in first place in any poll since 1992.
• Portland ranked in the top 10 nationally for 10 straight weeks.
• The Pilots qualified for the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time under head coach Nick Carlin-Voigt, earning the 8-seed. It was the third time in program history that the Pilots have earned a first-round bye and the second time under Carlin-Voigt.
• For the fourth time under Carlin-Voigt, the Pilots advanced past the initial round, making it all the way to the Elite Eight. It's the second time the Pilots have made it to the Elite Eight under Carlin-Voigt and the third time since 1995.
• Portland hosted an Elite Eight game at Merlo Field, marking the first time in program history they've ever done so.
• The Pilots had nine players earn All-WCC honors with four making the first team. Portland's four first-team selections are the most by any Pilot team since 1995.
• Diego Rosas also earned individual honors, being named WCC Midfielder of the Year. He's the second Pilot in three years to win the honor.
• Four Pilots – Rosas, Joe Highfield, David Ajagbe and Miguel-Angel Hernandez – earned United Soccer Coaches All-West Region honors. They had the most selections of any team in the West Region.
• Rosas and Highfield both earned All-American honors, with Rosas making the third team in the TopDrawerSoccer Best XI and Highfield making the United Soccer Coaches All-American Third Team.
• Two players – Joe Highfield and Nikos Clarke-Tosczak – were drafted in the first round of the 2026 MLS SuperDraft. It's the first time the Pilots have had two players taken in the first round of the SuperDraft.
• They were one of the best teams statistically this season, ranking third in assists (56), fourth in assists per game (2.75), fifth in goal differential (31), sixth in win-lost-tied percentage (.800) and team goals-against average (.624), seventh in points (142) and points per game (7.05), 12^th in total goals (43) and 13^th in goals per game (2.15).
• Their 56 assists broke a program record set two years prior. 

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