(Kevin Kadooka -- The Beacon)
By Kassi McCluskie
Playing at the University of Portland is like playing nowhere else in the country. I think every player, no matter where they're from, would agree.
Yes, we are a ranked team. We've won national championships. We all live and breath soccer. But that is not what sets us apart.
It is strictly because of our fans.
Sometimes I feel myself at a loss for words when trying to explain how awesome, amazing, extravagant and powerful the fans truly are. There is no complete way of describing the way the fans make us feel on the field.
When we are warming up and I hear the Villa Drum Squad coming around the corner, I get chills and smile every time.
When the fans scream "GO …PORTLAND" during the game, it almost feels as though my heart skips a beat. It hits me hard because the feeling of playing for your fans is unexplainable.
When we lose, it is as if we have let not just ourselves down but let our fans down as well. We see it as a privilege to play here and play for our fans. We feel as though we owe it to our fans to work as hard as possible day in and day out.
When we play at other schools and look in the stands to see that there an incomparable amount of fans to UP it makes me realize how lucky we really are.
The atmosphere that our fans have created at Merlo field cannot be recreated anywhere else and it has made my time here at UP memorable. To say that our fans mean a lot to us is an understatement because without them we wouldn't be the team we are today.
