Hardened by his Time in Portland, Pierre is Ready for MLS
Date Posted: 7/3/2023
PORTLAND, Ore. – Delentz Pierre scored arguably the biggest goal of the Pilots season in 2022. In the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament, Sebastian Nava sent a corner kick into the box that Western Michigan tried – and failed – to clear it. Pierre, patiently lurking in the six-yard box, came in and deftly pounded a header right into the back of the net.
That goal proved to be the difference. The Pilots won the match thanks to Pierre's header, advancing to the quarterfinals of the tournament for the first time since the 1995 season. It got them to 15 wins, the most since that same year as well. That header along with Pierre's typical stellar defensive play all proved to be critical in the 1-0 victory.
"We'll never forget that goal that he scored," Portland Head Coach Nick Carlin-Voigt said.
But when asked what he remembers most clearly from the year, the goal doesn't come first for Pierre. First comes the 4-1 loss to San Diego, one of just three losses the Pilots had on the year and the one that cost them the WCC regular season title. Then he'll mention the Oregon State match, and not the match where they won 2-0 in the second round of the tournament, a contest that Portland head coach Nick Carlin-Voigt called Pierre the man of the match. Instead, it's the regular season loss that he'll remember most, the 3-2 loss that ended the Pilots unbeaten streak at 11 games.
The truth is that Pierre always remembers the losses more vividly than the wins. It's not because he likes wallowing in defeat. It's because those losses serve as make-or-break moments, inflection points that can either tear a player down or force them to address what they need to improve. Those points can be crucial in the development of a young player.
"I really focus on making my weaknesses and my mistakes my strengths," Pierre said. "I really saw [the San Diego loss] as a defining moment for the team. That loss really woke us up, as well as that OSU loss… at the end, they made us better. We learned how to deal with adversity and what it really felt like to lose."
College careers are filled with these moments, and how a player reacts can alter their trajectory significantly. For Pierre, he hit these points a few different times throughout his career. Despite that, the 6-1 defender persevered and now finds himself moving on to the next level, recently signing a homegrown contract with Real Salt Lake in MLS, his home club. After a career filled with these make-or-break moments, he's made it. Now, he faces the next level, a level that will surely be filled with those moments.
"It feels good," Pierre said. "I've been preparing myself for this for a while. I've been working really hard and felt it was the right time to do it."
Those losses in what would be his final season as a Pilot all helped mold Pierre in some way. But they were far from his first make-or-break moments that changed him as a player. The first came when he finally arrived on The Bluff in August 2019. He came late to the Pilots after spending a summer with RSL and found out he wasn't getting the starting spot that he desired. He would start his college career on the bench.
That's not uncommon for a college freshman, but Pierre also wouldn't stand for that staying the norm.
"That really ignited a fire inside me," Pierre said. "I came in thinking I was going be like this big shot and immediately start, but no, freshman, right on the bench, and that was huge for me."
It wasn't ideal, and he chuckles as he thinks back on that. He laughs partially because Pierre spent a seemingly trivial amount of time on the bench, not starting just one match. It wasn't a long wait, but it felt like an eternity for Pierre, and he put in the work to earn a starting spot.
Pierre played all 17 matches his freshman year with 16 starts. He played the third-most minutes of any Pilot that year. He even scored two goals and added an assist. It was an unquestionably solid first year, good enough to earn him All-WCC Freshman Team honors.
In-between Pierre's first and second year, he made a leap as a center back. He was slowly working up to the player he would become before he finished his college career. But before that, he hit another inflection point. In an injury that came not from any freak incident or singular moment, but from regular wear-and-tear, Pierre partially tore his meniscus. Then he tore his hip labrum in the opposite leg. All this came to a head in November 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. It felt like a not-so-perfect storm of injuries happening all at once.
"It was pretty tough," Pierre said. "When one leg was healing, the other had to do surgery."
It wore at Pierre. He missed that awkward 2021 spring season and the beginning of the fall season that followed. The last time Pierre had his career on hold, he was able to work through it. This time, it wasn't something that he could play his way to absolving. He had to wait. And he's more about acting than reacting.
"I love playing this sport; I love it with all my heart," Pierre said. "It was really tough watching my friends play, watching my teammates go out and play… doing what you want to do. But then as I was getting closer to starting to run, starting to cut and starting to play, it was rewarding for sure."
Carlin-Voigt saw how that injury affected him. He saw how difficult it could be for any athlete to stay present and focused on the moment when the game is taken away from you. But despite that, Pierre never wavered. He took the cards he was dealt and made it work.
"He's got an infectious smile and personality, so he always makes the most of it and sees the best in every situation," Carlin-Voigt said. "A lot of his upbringing comes from his parents who are fantastic, hardworking, loyal parents, and they've raised him the right way, that he has manners, respect and class and I think in every way that he behaved here, it was that way. He's just full of class off the field."
Pierre returned in the fall of 2021 and immediately had an impact. He earned All-WCC Second Team honors after anchoring the back line as a center back. The Pilots made it back to the tournament that year, hosting and beating the Seattle U Redhawks 3-2 before advancing to the second round and falling to the No. 3 Washington Huskies.
Pierre undoubtedly played a big role in the season. But in classic fashion, he remembers not his first official game back against Seattle U in the Coffee Cup. It was the third game, a 2-0 loss to a ranked Washington side. It was his first start of the year as well.
"I came back and I'm pretty sure I did not play well," Pierre said, still flashing his ever-present smile. "But it was amazing being back…. You wait so long just for this one moment to step back on the field and there's nothing better."
His final year he was dominant. The Pilots as a whole were dominant; they went 15-3-3 and finished the year ranked 10th in the final United Soccer Coaches Top 25 poll. They led the WCC in 14 different statistical categories and ranked in the top 10 nationally in goal differential (third, 32), total goals (fourth, 51), total points (fourth, 154), won-lost-tied percentage (seventh, .786), goals per game (eighth, 2.43), points per game (ninth, 7.33) and total assists (ninth, 52). Few teams in the country were as efficient and productive as Portland.
It's probably too much of a sweeping statement to say none of it happens without Pierre, but it's undeniable the role he played. He started all 21 matches and was an All-WCC First Team selection. Along with that, he made the All-West Region Second Team and the TopDrawerSoccer Best XI Third Team. He guided the Pilots to 10 shutouts, which ranked 10th nationally. In Carlin-Voigt's eyes, few players were more crucial to their team than Pierre.
"[He] became an incredibly important part of the successful season we had both on and off the field," Carlin-Voigt said. "[He] was a reliable leader in the locker room, was a part of our leadership council and was a lockdown center back who could run with anyone in the country."
Carlin-Voigt will happily tell anyone that he thought Pierre was one of the best defenders in the country, let alone the West Coast. It wasn't always that way, but he fit the mold that Carlin-Voigt looks for in players and worked to improve, focusing on his fitness, his ability to win duels, heading, scoring on set pieces, all things a modern defender needs to success professionally. Carlin-Voigt said that the player you see now is the result of that hard work.
"It's the blueprint that we talk about in the recruiting process with high-level guys," Carlin-Voigt said. "Delentz didn't come in with any rankings or national team fuss, but he put his head down and worked hard and rose to become one of the best collegiate defenders in the country."
Now Pierre is on the next step in his journey. He's rejoining the club he's been a part of since he was 14 years old, a club that has signed a league-leading 36 homegrown players. He's the sixth Pilot to sign under Carlin-Voigt and the 23rd in Pilot history to play in MLS. As a left-footed defender who's quick and comfortable playing midfield, few are more uniquely equipped to come in and make an impact right away for a team than Pierre.
"I think as we've seen at UP, guys have been able, like Benji Michel, to step right out of our team and into a first team and contribute to a first team and I know that's Delentz's goal right now is to fight for playing time and earn his spot," Carlin-Voigt said. "He's going to have to go in and earn it and I know he can because of his profile and the work that he's committed to."
Pierre is prepared to put in the work. He's talked with friends who are currently in MLS for advice. He's worked with the staff here at UP about how he can improve. He's played with the academy and even scrimmaged with the RSL first team this past summer. He has an idea of what it's like, but the more he hears, the more he thinks he has to experience it to truly get it.
"The main thing is work," Pierre said about what he hears most. "A lot of players tell me that 'Delentz, you have the talent and the skills to make it,' but I'm going to obviously need to get better in every aspect. And that's what a lot of guys tell me. Just making sure that you're getting better and having fun with it at the same time."
In a way, it all comes full circle for Pierre. He came to UP without too much acclaim, having to fight for his starting spot, and that's exactly what he did. He goes to RSL with one goal in mind: earning minutes with the first team and starting for the academy he's played with since he was a teen. Just another inflection point in a journey filled with them.
"I believe that with my work ethic and who I am as a soccer player, my skill and all that comes with it, I believe that I'll earn some type of shot," Pierre said. "And when that comes, I'll either make it or break it."