The University of Portland men’s soccer team handed Oregon State a 3-2 defeat in the first round of the 2003 College Cup at Lorenz Field in Corvallis, Ore. Portland defender Josh Brown picked scored his first career goal at the most opportune time, as his 87th minute strike sealed the 3-2 win. Portland (10-8-1) scored two goals in the final 11 minutes after Oregon State’s (13-7-0) Evan McNeley’s pair of second half goals gave the Beavers a 2-1 lead.

The win marks the second year in a row that the Pilots have ousted the Beavers in the NCAA first round, as UP came away with a 2-0 win at Merlo Field last year. Portland advances and will take on the Washington Huskies on Wed., Nov. 26 at 7:00 p.m. in Seattle, Wash.

Brown put forth a spectacular individual effort, coming all the way from the back and performing a give-and-go with sophomore forward Patrick Mooney. Brown received the pass from Mooney, about 12 yards in front of the Beaver goal, spun to his left and put home the game-winner to the near post.

“I picked it up from Paul (Robinson) and ran with it,” said Brown of dash past the Beaver defense. “I slotted it to Pat (Mooney), picked it back up and scored.”

Freshman forward Christopher Sanders put Portland on the board first with a strike in the 27th minute on the Pilots’ second corner kick of the afternoon. Erik Cronkrite found Sanders unmarked on the right side of the box for a header. The shot was blocked back to Sanders by a Beaver defender who blasted the rebound to the right post.

McNeley evened the score with an extreme-angle header off the Beaver’s second corner kick at the 51:21 mark. Ross Duncan sent the short cross to the near post, where McNeley went low to the ground and redirected the ball to the opposite side of the goal.

Oregon State took advantage of a golden opportunity late in the match as Brown was called for a controversial penalty inside the box. Brown battled Alan Gordon in the air for a cross and the official felt too much contact was made, setting up the Beavers for the potential game-winner. McNeley took the penalty shot, scoring his second goal of the half, and giving the Beavers a 2-1 lead with under 12 minutes to play.

Portland was granted reprieve with 10:06 left as the Beavers were called for a hand-ball, inside their own penalty box. Pilot junior Paul Robinson took the penalty kick and beat Peter Billmeyer, equalizing the score at 2-2.

“When we got the second goal, it gave us the momentum to score another,” said Robinson.

With OSU forward Alan Gordon on the sideline receiving treatment for a gash on his forehead, the Beavers were a man-down during both Portland scores. Ironically, Gordon was coming onto the field just as Brown scored UP's final goal.

"Things were looking good, and then Alan got hurt, and we were just unlucky in getting him back onto the field," Taylor said. "He had to fix his face from getting cut, so they scored both goals with Alan off the field - what can you do? We were playing 10-v-11."

The Beavers held a 20-12 shot advantage for the match, while the Pilots had seven corners to OSU’s six. The Beavers trailed 1-0 at the half, but threatened more often and won the possession game throughout the match. Of the 10 first-half OSU shots, three came in the final twenty seconds. Ryan Johnson and Robbie Findley had their attempts blocked, while Alan Gordon’s shot sailed high to end the threat.

Pilot keeper Luis Robles was solid in the Pilot net all day stopping four Beaver shots and snagging many cross attempts to diffuse OSU attacks. Billmeyer stopped one Pilot shot between the pipes for the Beavers. As expected, the Northwest rivals played a physical match that drew a combined 39 fouls.

“We’ve played tough road matches all season long and I think that prepared us well for a game like this,” said Pilot head coach Bill Irwin. “The season continues thanks to a great effort, and now we’ve got to prepare for another tough game at Washington.”