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PORTLAND, Ore. --- The 2016 women's soccer season is officially here as the Portland Pilots held their first training of the year on Wednesday evening at the Clive Charles Soccer Complex. The Pilots feature a veteran squad as 14 letterwinners and eight starters return from last season. New to The Bluff is a group of seven newcomers, five of which are from the Portland area.
 
Headlining Portland's returners are 2015 All-West Coast Conference Second Team selections Ellie Boon and Allison Wetherington. The two seniors are part of a class that was ranked fifth in the nation back in 2013. Boon, an outside back, was second on the team with four assists last fall, and she was one of four Pilots to start all 19 games. Wetherington is a midfielder who led the Pilots with five assists, while also scoring three goals, all game-winners. She also led the team in minutes played.
 
The Pilots will be looking to return to the playoffs in 2016 after advancing to the post-season during 21 of the past 24 seasons. Portland won the NCAA National Championship in 2002 and in 2005, and the 2005 team will be inducted into the UP Athletics Hall of Fame in October.
 
Head coach Garrett Smith, who has been named WCC Coach of the Year six times, enters his 14th year at the helm of the Pilots. Smith, a Portland men's soccer alum, has posted a career overall record of 208-58-20 (.762), while guiding the Pilots to a remarkable 73-18-8 (.778) mark in the WCC.
 
Also back on the Portland bench is former Pilot midfielder Lisa Chambers, who enters her 10th year as an assistant coach. Goalkeeping coach and UP alum Angela Harrison returns for her second season on the women's soccer staff.
 
The Pilots open the 2016 season at home vs. Washington on Friday, Aug. 19 at 7 p.m. Portland State visits Merlo Field for a game on Friday, Aug. 26, and the Pilots' first road contest of the year will be at Cal on Sunday, Aug. 28.
 
Portland will also hold an alumni game on Friday, Aug. 12 at 7 p.m. at Merlo Field. The exhibition game is free admission and is open to the public.