by Olga Gomez |
The Pilots fell to CSUN 1-0 in the last match of the 2015 Nike Portland Invitational this afternoon.
Defense was strong in the first half and Portland had four shots while CSUN didn’t take any. The score remained at zero heading into halftime.
Two minutes into the second half, the Pilots upped the pressure. Freshman forward Cecilia Pedersen came close to scoring, but CSUN goalie Cynthia Tafoya saved the ball.
The momentum of the game picked up when the Matadors shot a corner kick, but the Pilots’ junior goalkeeper, Hanna de Haan, caught the ball before the Matadors gained full control.
After the corner, Matadors’ Ariana Tran kicked a long shot and de Haan just missed the ball past her fingertips, giving the CSUN a 1-0 advantage. To offset the goal, senior Noelle La Prevotte tried to breakthrough the Matadors' defense, but the ball was shot too wide, missing the net.
In minute 73, Tran received a yellow card for fouling redshirt junior Devlyn Jeter. Jeter left the field with an injury, but later reentered the game.
The Pilots kept the ball on the Matadors’ side of the field for the rest of the game, but were unable to convert a shot.
The team will hit the road and head up to Seattle to play the Washington Huskies on Thursday night at 7:00 p.m. The Huskies beat CSUN and UC Irvine at Merlo Field this weekend to win the 2015 Nike Portland Invitational.
Olga Gomez is a sports reporter for The Beacon. She can be reached at gomezo18@up.edu or on Twitter @olgaagomezz.
