PORTLAND, Ore.- The University of Portland women’s soccer team beat Cal State Fullerton, 2-0 in the late game of the NIKE Invitational at Merlo Field. Sophomore Lindsey Huie and freshman Lisa Sari tallied the goals for Portland. The Pilots improve to 4-1-0 on the season, while the Titans suffer their first defeat of the season and fall to 3-1-0. In the early game, Washington and Connecticut battled to a 1-1 tie.

Portland got off to a fast start and kept the pressure on the Titans early in the first half. Freshman Stephanie Lopez’s shot just over a minute into play bounced off the crossbar, and Huie followed five minutes later with another shot stopped by the crossbar.

Huie gave Portland the lead with a score in the 24th minute, her third goal of the season. Freshman Elsa Hume gathered a loose ball and brought it near the endline on the right side just outside the penalty box. Hume’s cross was headed on by senior Wanda Rozwadowska to Huie, who off one bounce rocketed a shot to the inside of the left post.

The Pilots clearly dominated the Titans in the first half of play putting on a ball control and passing clinic, while limiting Fullerton to four shots. Pilot freshman keeper Cori Alexander was forced to make only two routine saves in the half.

“We had an awesome first half,” said Huie. “We only had some small problems here and there, and the second half didn’t flow as well as the first, but we made the necessary adjustments and cleaned things up a bit.”

Sari capped off the scoring in the 64th minute on a pretty sequence of passing. Jennifer Tuttle sent a ball to an unmarked Kristen Rogers down the right side of the field. Rogers centered the ball past Titan keeper Laura Janke leaving Sari wide open for the finish to the left post.

“We played well as a team,” said Sari. “We got our crosses down and into place, our passing was great and the defense was awesome as usual.”

Fullerton nearly ended the first half with an equalizing goal off of their second corner kick of the game. Lauryn Welch sent a ball into the box and Marlene Sandoval blasted a shot that was saved by Alexander, Sandoval sent the rebound towards the goal before having it blocked by the Pilot defense and cleared.

Portland a shot advantage of 15-4 and the teams each had two corner kicks. Alexander earned her fourth shutout in five games in the Pilot net, while Titan keeper Janke fell to 3-1-0 with the loss.

Although Portland outshot Fullerton 8-0 in the second period, the pace of the game was clearly dictated in the first half. The Pilot defense was solid as usual, but coach Garrett Smith was especially pleased with the offensive production.

“I think we got great performances from all the forwards,” noted Smith. “We had a lot more movement, a lot more people involved. It’s a good sign when we spread out the scoring.”

UP NEXT: The Pilots conclude the NIKE Invitational on Sun., Sept. 14 with a 2:15 p.m. game against Connecticut. The 2002 College Cup Champions will be honored prior to the game.