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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 11, 2006 It was quite a ride for Pilots’ Salisbury Prep Notebook By DON HUNT Mail Tribune Two important penalty kicks that helped win NCAA tournament games. Two NCAA titles. Two trips to the White House to visit the president. Not in her wildest dreams could Colleen Salisbury have predicted such a glorious ride while attending the University of Portland. The former Ruch Elementary, McLoughlin Middle School and South Medford High School soccer standout will graduate from college next month. The memories she collected from being a part of the top NCAA Division I women’s soccer program in the country will last a lifetime. Advertisement Salisbury put the exclamation point on her college soccer career last Thursday when she toured the nation’s capitol and the White House with her Portland teammates. Salisbury had made the same visit three years earlier when the Pilots claimed their first NCAA title, but this time she was the one selected by her coaches and teammates to hand the team’s jersey to President Bush in a ceremony on the White House’s South Lawn. "He didn’t say much right then, but we met with him for a few minutes in a room downstairs beforehand," Salisbury says. "He asked where each of us was from and he joked about how we probably didn’t expect him to still be president if we made it back a second time." On a team loaded with exceptional athletes, Salisbury was never a starter and didn’t see the field as much as she would have liked, playing in just 29 of a possible 98 games during her four- year career. But she wouldn’t have traded her soccer experience and her time at UP — the catholic school on the bluff in north Portland — for any other. "I had to learn to accept my role and it was hard at first," Salisbury says. "But after a while you realize you’re out there with some of the best players in the country. You can’t believe how skilled and quick they are and how hard they play. Just being able to play and practice with them was an honor for me." Not that Salisbury didn’t contribute. In a dramatic win over Stanford in the quarterfinals of the 2002 NCAA Women’s College Cup, the then-freshman used her powerful left foot to drill home the decisive goal during a penalty kick shootout. Portland went on to beat Penn State 2-0 and then Santa Clara 2-1 in double overtime for its first title. "I didn’t have time to get nervous," Salisbury recalls. "And all the girls on the team wanted to win that title so bad for Clive (Charles) because we knew he probably wouldn’t be around much longer. I had to do it for Clive." Clive Charles, the man who elevated Portland soccer to national prominence, died in August 2003 of pancreatic cancer at age 51. Salisbury was back to her penalty kick tricks last postseason. She hammered a shot into the net that served as the go-ahead score in a semifinal shootout victory over Penn State. Three days later, the Pilots rolled to a 4-0 victory over UCLA in the national championship match. "This has been the best four years of my life," says Salisbury, who played on UP teams that won 80 games, lost 11 and tied seven. "I know I could have played more at a lower level, but I wouldn’t have traded one second for the experiences I’ve had and the chance to play for Clive." Salisbury will pick up a degree in life sciences next month and plans to pursue a career in kinesiology. She’ll continue to live in Portland and will serve as an assistant coach for FC Portland, a U15 girls club team. THE SOUTHERN OREGON CONFERENCE has lost half of its boys basketball coaches. Ashland’s Rick Cornelius was the latest to resign — he stepped down last Tuesday — and joins Bill Cowell (Grants Pass), Keith Williams (Eagle Point) and Mike Pardon (Roseburg) on the sidelines. Pardon, who spent 13 years on the Indians’ bench and produced a school record 204 wins, cited family considerations. He and his wife, Lisa, have three children (Kelsey, 14, Jonathan, 11, and Katlyn, 8) who are involved in sports. "I started to see the kind of impact this position had on my family," Pardon, 40, told the Roseburg News Review after stepping down on March 21. "I don’t want to look back with any regrets about the amount of time I spent with them." Reach reporter Don Hunt at 776-4469, or e-mail It was quite a ride for Pilots� Salisbury ">[email protected] . Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2006 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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