The University of Portland has extended the contract of Michelle French and promoted Logan Emory and Maite Zibala to co-associate head coaches.
This promotion is the first of its kind at UP. Zibala and Logan were assistant coaches in the years prior. Zabala has been an assistant coach with the Pilots for five years, while Emory has been with the women's team for four years, previously spending three with the men's team.
French joined the Portland team as head-coach in 2018, most recently leading Portland to their best season in nine years. This isn’t French’s first time as a Pilot though, she was originally a student at UP where she graduated in 1998.
This past season the Pilots made it to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2013 and finished 12-5-4. This coaching staff also collected some accolades, earning the 2022 United Soccer Coaches West Region Staff of the Year.
While the Pilots women’s soccer team doesn’t have conference play in the spring, you can catch them on the pitch for a few scrimmages. On March 18 they will play St. Martins on Merlo pitch at 2 p.m. Then they will hit the road to play Oregon State in Corvallis on April 8 before returning home to play Western Washington on April 15 and Seattle Pacific on April 22.
Wilder Isom is the sports editor at The Beacon. She can be reached at isomw24@up.edu.
