Sept. 23, 2005
The Oregonian
by
ABBY HAIGHT
Christine Sinclair's staggering scoring totals are in part a product of her talented, gifted Pilots soccer team.
How does the most marked woman in NCAA Division I soccer lead the nation in goal scoring, averaging two goals per game?
Christine Sinclair considers the question. Grimaces a little. Laughs in embarrassment.
"I've heard people say there are born goal scorers, and maybe that's it," the University of Portland senior said. "It seems like such a simple concept. The goal is so big and the goalkeeper is so small. You just kick the ball where the goalkeeper isn't."
But that only explains the coup de grace, that last instant between a touch and a celebration.
The full answer encompasses the unbeaten and third-ranked Pilots, who return to Merlo Field tonight to face No. 22 Arizona. The full answer is about maturity, strength, patience and vision -- of an individual and a team.
Sinclair, the reigning Hermann Trophy player of the year, has 16 goals in eight games this season. Her 87 career goals tie her for No. 2 all time at Portland with Shannon MacMillan, and she is 16 goals shy of tying Tiffeny Milbrett for most goals.
She already has passed those Pilots legends with her 30 career game-winners.
This season, Sinclair has scored one-on-one with goalkeepers and through a scrum of defenders. She has scored on wide-open breakaways and when defenses have bunkered down. She scored five of Portland's six goals in victories last week at then-No. 21 Texas and Baylor.
"I think that no matter how many people you put on her, she's going to do what she does best, which is beat her defender and score goals," said senior midfielder Lindsey Huie.
But Sinclair can't score goals alone.
"I think what people want to hear us say is that she's a super-human being," Huie said. "She's not. She is very good at what she does, and she has a very good team around her."
Focus on Sinclair, and opposing teams leave the way open for a phalanx of scorers: freshman midfielder/forward Megan Rapinoe (five goals, four assists), sophomore striker Natalie Budge (two goals, four assists) and sophomore midfielder Angie Woznuk (one goal, two assists). Huie is the playmaker at midfield with four assists.
Even Portland defenders join the attack, with Kelsy Hollenbeck assisting on three goals and Kari Evans scoring.
"(Sinclair's) had a lot more freedom this year because teams can't isolate her because, if they do, there's somebody else," Evans said.
As important as the talent is the patience needed to break down defenses and the confidence to know that goals will come, coach Garrett Smith said.
"The maturity of the whole team," he said. "They're older. They're better. And so is she. The growth she's had -- knowing it will come -- has made her a better goal scorer."
When West Virginia built a defensive bunker two weeks ago, the Pilots were determined and in control until a seam opened for Rapinoe in the 72nd minute. The team showed similar poise last week against Texas, with Sinclair finally scoring in the 73rd minute, then coming back in the 83rd minute with the game winner.
That patience probably wasn't there even a year ago, Sinclair said.
"I think a lot of it has to do with our team," she said. "We create so many chances. Someone is going to score goals."
When the opposing team lets down its guard for an instant, Sinclair is ready to pounce -- just as she did as a 16-year-old in her Canadian national team debut, when she scored three goals in the Algarve Cup.
A seasoned international at 22, the native of Burnaby, B.C., brings a challenging combination of strength on her 5-foot-9 frame, deceptive, ground-eating speed and an unerring nose for the goal.
"Even if you know what she's doing, what she's going to do, she makes you hesitate that split second so she can get by you," Evans said. "You don't anticipate her quickness. Couple that with her strength, and she's hard to beat."
The Pilots' teamwide strength allows Sinclair to shine, said Milbrett, who has trained with Sinclair and played against her with the U.S. Soccer national team.
"She's like this silent, chilled, really calm player out there," said Milbrett, who scored 103 goals in her Portland career. "She is so technically gifted. She can play the ball off first time. She can hold it and pass. She can dribble.
"I think (opposing teams) can get lulled, that she doesn't seem dangerous. She's so fluid. She's so dangerous. That's her ability. They say people are so good when they make it look so easy."
Milbrett expects Sinclair to keep scoring because of the team around her.
"That's a perfect situation for a striker," Milbrett said. "Especially for Christine -- as a complete player, you play things as you see them and, if you can do that, you're dangerous for 90 minutes."