The men’s soccer team comes up short against WCC foes San Diego and Loyola Marymount, ties Gonzaga
(-- The Beacon)
By Kyle Cape-Lindelin Staff Writer capelind13@up.edu
The University of Portland men's soccer team remains frustrated in the WCC after tying rival Gonzaga 1-1 and falling to San Diego and Loyola Marymount, losing 1-0 to USD and 3-2 against LMU.
The Pilots now stand 0-4-1 in a stacked WCC conference despite playing strong defense and employing a more coherent offense.
"It has to change," head coach Bill Irwin said. "We are playing too good with too good of players for things not to change."
Even after two overtime rounds the Pilots couldn't break their 1-1 deadlock with the Gonzaga Bulldogs this past Wednesday afternoon. The two teams battled for 52 minutes before the Bulldogs drew the first blood. Their goal prompted the Pilots to lockdown on possession for the remainder of the game. With 15 minutes left in regulation sophomore midfielder Steven Evans finished a penalty kick following a foul on junior forward Ricardo Carrillo to tie the game 1-1.
Junior goalkeeper Justin Baarts held down the net with four saves including a game-saver in the final minutes of the second overtime. The Pilots well-fought game against Gonzaga comes in the wake of in-conference losses to the San Diego Toreros and the Loyola Marymount Lions.
UP started off the weekend on Oct. 7 against San Diego, coming out aggressively on offense, a change from their notoriously slow starts. At the nine-minute mark, senior forward Connor Barbaree received a pass from Evans off a free kick. Despite being wide open, Barbaree's kick sailed high from eight yards away.
A minute later, Evans fired a shot from 25 yards out, missing the goal by inches. The misses were deflating for the Pilots offense while they caused San Diego to tighten up their defense.
"Those two chances in the beginning were shots we needed to bury," Irwin said. "It was very disappointing that the game ended so close because we had our opportunities to take it."
UP's defense was impenetrable in the first half. It wasn't until the second half that the Pilots lapsed on defense in the 53rd minute. USD's junior forward Patrick Wallen took advantage of the lapse and headed in a timely pass from fellow Torero senior forward Stephen Posa, which ended up being the game-winning goal.
The Pilots took a flurry of shots in the closing minutes, but none of them found the net and the team was sent to the locker room with another WCC loss.
"It's unfortunate there was a lot of calls that didn't go our way, but that's the game and it's not like we didn't have our opportunities," senior midfielder Michael Nielsen said. "It feels like we're getting kicked a lot lately but it's on us to step up our toughness and get the goals when we can."
UP was in for another battle against LMU on Oct. 9, as the Pilots scored first on freshman midfielder Derek Boggs' header in the 15th minute. LMU bounced back three minutes later, tying the game with a goal of their own before Barbaree took the lead back in the 42nd minute on a free kick, sending the Pilots into halftime with a 2-1 lead.
LMU came out ready and aggressive in the second half as they scored in the 57th minute to tie the game, scoring again only seven minutes later to take the lead for good.
"We really can't make excuses for tonight," freshman midfielder Thomas Iwasaki said. "We knew it was going to be a rough and tough game. That's life in the WCC and we better get used to it."
The Pilots still had ample opportunities in the final 25 minutes, the biggest coming in the 74th minute when Barbaree angled a shot off the post, sending it directly into LMU goalkeeper Jack McCormack's hands.
UP remains on the road for a game against St. Mary's on Oct. 16 at 2 p.m. They return to Portland to play at Merlo Field, with Gonzaga scheduled for Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. and St. Mary's on Oct. 28 at 7 p.m.
"Both teams present real challenges to us, but are great opportunities to get back into the conference race," Irwin said. "They're both much improved from the last few years and have already beaten some teams we struggled against."
Gonzaga is currently 4-6-2 for the season and 2-2-1 in WCC play, but has played in seven overtime games this year and always seem to have a chance to win. St. Mary's is currently 4-3-5 while also playing in close games, especially in WCC play where they stand 2-1-1. These next three games against two tough-minded teams will be the ultimate test for the Pilots and will determine if they can right the ship to have a successful season.
