• VIDEO INTERVIEW: https://vimeo.com/312849824/5d985236f6
It’s always special to reach an NCAA final in any sport – and even more special to do that as a freshman. But if that actually happens during one’s first year as a college athlete, there’s a tendency to think it’ll keep happening in the years ahead.
Doesn’t usually work out that way … unless you’re Scott Cairns.
For him, it worked out exactly that way.
The stalwart defender helped Seattle Pacific earn a place in the Division II championship game during each of his four autumns in maroon, and the Falcons won it all in 1983, 1985, and 1986 to claim the second, third and fourth of the program’s five national titles.
Cairns was selected to the Senior Bowl in 1986. He was a four-time All-Northwest Collegiate Soccer Conference selection, and was chosen to three All-Region teams.
Like most defenders, Cairns wasn’t in the headlines very often. But he did everything he could to help his teammates get into those headlines. By the time he took off his uniform after that ’86 championship game, he owned the school record for career assists (42) and tied the record for single-season assists (13, in 1985).
Those assist marks that Cairns set during his career have been surpassed. But what he helped the team accomplish during his four years here still stands alone.
ACCOMPLISHMENTS (1984-87)
• Far West All-America as a junior in 1985 and again as a senior in 1986.
• Soccer America MVP in 1986.
• Four-time All-Conference selection.
• Racked up double-digit assists as a freshman, sophomore, and junior
