Portland senior defender Alex Kraus has taken on blogging duties for the men’s soccer team, and he’ll be checking in from time-to-time to give fans an in-depth look into the soccer program. Make sure to bookmark www.portlandpilots.com/KrausBlog and follow Kraus and the Pilots all season.
You can send Alex any questions, comments or feedback that you might have by clicking HERE ... Each week, Alex will select a few questions and/or comments to address.
PREVIOUS BLOG ENTRIES
• Entry #1 (Aug. 30, 2010)
• Entry #2 (Sept. 2, 2010)
• Entry #3 (Sept. 6, 2010)
• Entry #4 (Sept. 13, 2010)
• Entry #5 (Sept. 17, 2010)
• Entry #6 (Sept. 22, 2010)
• Entry #7 (Sept. 27, 2010)
• Entry #8 (Oct. 7, 2010)
• Entry #9 (Oct. 12, 2010)
• Entry #10 (Oct. 27, 2010)
Entry #11
Thursday, Nov. 4, 2010
Hello Pilots Fans,
Well the time has come. A number of us will playing in our last UP home games this weekend (that is if we don’t get a home playoff game), and this is a good chance to look back on some of the times we’ve spent here on the bluff. Individually, our senior class is highly decorated, with multiple WCC awards: first-team selections, honorable mentions, and players of the week. We’ve scored goals and stopped them, hushed crowds on the road and made you all cheer in delight at home, and got plenty of whiffs of Kettle Corn from the corner of Merlo. We’ve taken UP soccer farther than it has been in awhile, with a Sweet 16 appearance last year and hopefully another long playoff run still to come this year.
The stats speak for themselves, but our accomplishments and numbers will only last for so long in your memories. The special thing about this class is that we have seen adversity and have grown from it. When I first arrived here on campus, the team was coming off a season that was less than acceptable. The next few years were mired with some inconsistencies, but I believe we are in the process of establishing UP as a major force on the west coast and in the nation for men’s college soccer. We are not going to become the #1 team in the nation overnight, but we have established the sense of tradition, structures, and chemistry that should continue to translate into stronger and stronger teams. We seniors may never achieve what we set out to achieve (a National Championship of course!) but the foundation is laid, and future UP teams, and you fans, will be able to profit from our work. I am a firm advocate of leaving things better than how you found them, and if nothing else, I hope that we will be remembered for being the catalysts that helped UP men’s soccer reach the levels that is expected of such a great and storied program.
So, if you are reading this as a blog, come out this weekend and make it special for us. The men’s team hasn’t had a sellout crowd since I have been here. We are currently in a huge battle for the conference title where we must win our next three games, and it could be the last time you can see us seniors play soccer on The Bluff.
How could it be any more of an enticing draw than that? Friday at 7PM versus LMU and Sunday at 1PM versus San Diego. If you are reading this as part of the game program, the team, and especially us seniors, thank you for your undying support.
Sincerely,
Alex Kraus #17
