Oct. 23, 2004

Box Score

PORTLAND, Ore., - The University of Portland scored late in the first half and early in the second and that was enough to defeat Gonzaga University 2-0 Friday in a West Coast Conference men's soccer match under the lights of Merlo Field.

The loss came just five days after the Bulldogs (5-9-0, 1-5-0) had snapped a 12-match WCC losing streak over the past three seasons. The Pilots (7-5-1, 2-3-1) extended their winning streak over the Bulldogs to four in the series Portland now leads 16-5-0 dating back to 1981. Gonzaga has now been blanked in all nine of its losses this season.

Gonzaga won't have much time to think about the loss and the Pilots won't have much time to celebrate the win as the teams will get a quick re-match Sunday at 2 p.m. at Martin Field on the Gonzaga campus. The WCC men switched to a double round-robin scheduling format this season.

Heath Pearce gave the Pilots a 1-0 halftime lead at 38:24, taking a pass from the 20 and chipping it from inside the box past Gonzaga keeper Sean Sosnovec for his first goal of the season, Patrick Mooney and Matthew Dallman collecting the assists.

Dallman didn't waste any time in the second half extending the Portland lead to 2-0, scoring just 2:07 into the second half as he took a short cross from Josh Brown and scored from 17 yards out to the left post for his third goal of the year.

The teams battled on seemingly even terms throughout the match, the Pilots holding a slim 9-8 shots advantage in the first half and Gonzaga a 7-6 edge in the second half. But more than half of Gonzaga's 15 shots found their mark as Portland keeper Luis Robles was called on for eight saves - four in each half - in recording his fifth shutout of the season. Sosnovec finished with three saves for the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs were called for 21 fouls to nine on the Pilots.