PORTLAND, Ore. – Portland Pilots Men's Soccer strengthened their attack with the addition of Oskar Kaufmann, a Swedish forward joining the Pilots ahead of the 2026 fall season.
"Oskar was a highly recruited forward in the winter portal and has a good sense around the goal. He benefited by spending all spring with us and learning our way of playing," Portland Head Coach Nick Carlin-Voigt. "We have had good luck with our other Swedish forwards and have enjoyed working with
CJ Tibbling and
Anton Hjalmarsson. He's had great success scoring goals and now his challenge will be to do that at the higher level of college soccer. We are confident in his ability and think he can become a top striker in our league with his ability to come off the line and help build attacks while arriving in the box at the right now. Oskar is a very strong student-athlete and we are excited to see what he does with the opportunity at hand here in Soccer City USA."
Kaufmann joins Portland after playing last year for USC Upstate, where he was the top goalscorer for the Spartans. Kaufmann ranked 19
th nationally in goals with 11 and added an assist for 23 points total. Both his goal and points total ranked second in the Big South. Kaufmann was named a first team All-Big South honoree.
Prior to his time with the Spartans, Kaufmann was dominant in Division II with the Coker Cobras. Kaufmann was the SAC Freshman of the Year in 2024 after scoring 12 goals with seven assists for 31 points total. He earned Second Team All-SAC honors and earned All-Region honors from both United Soccer Coaches and D2CCA.
Momentum is strong for Portland, who put together one of the best seasons in program history this past season. Their 14-2-4 record gave them their best winning percentage since 1988 (.800) and helped them earn the 8-seed in the NCAA Tournament. It was the third time in program history the Pilots have earned the first-round bye and the second time under Carlin-Voigt. They advanced to the Elite Eight for the second time under Carlin-Voigt and third time since 1995, becoming one of just four programs to reach the Elite Eight twice in the last four years. It was the first time they've ever hosted the Elite Eight as well.
The Pilots were ranked in the top 10 nationally from Sept. 9 onward, including ranking as high as first in the nation. It was the first time in program history the Pilots have ranked first overall in the United Soccer Coaches Poll. Along with the team success, the Pilots have had eight players selected to the MLS SuperDraft the last three seasons and three players earn invites to U.S. Men's National Team camps. Three of the Pilots' most recent MLS SuperDraft selections – Efetobo Aror (12
th overall in 2025), Joe Highfield (11
th overall in 2026) and Nikos Clarke-Tosczak (19
th overall in 2026) – have all elected to return for the 2026 season as well, and the Pilots added another MLS SuperDraft pick in Isaac Emojong earlier this season.
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