Box Score  | Highlights, Sound

PORTLAND, Ore. --- Michael Escobar and Hugo Rhoads both scored world-class goals to help the Portland Pilots top the Seattle Redhawks 2-1 in a non-conference men's soccer game played on Sunday afternoon at Merlo Field. The start of the game was delayed by 30 minutes due to thunder and lightning in the area.
 
The Pilots win their second straight to improve to 3-2-0 on the season, while Seattle drops to 0-5-1.
 
The Pilots attacked the Seattle frame early, firing off six shots in the game's first 10 minutes, and it was Escobar who gave Portland the early lead. On a short pass from Eddie Sanchez, Escobar blasted a shot into the top right corner of the frame from about 22 yards out.
 
The goal, his first of the season, gave the Pilots a 1-0 lead.
 
Seattle answered though 10 minutes later. After fighting through a 1-v-1 with a defender, Miguel Gonzalez finished with a low, hard shot inside the left post from the top of the 18-yard box.
 
The Pilots responded with another first-class strike, this one coming off a corner kick. On a ball sent toward the top off the box by Escobar, Rhoads drove a first-time finish into the right corner of the net from 18 yards out. It's Rhoads' first goal of the season and it allowed the Pilots to take a 2-1 lead into the locker room at halftime.
 
The Pilots continued to attack the Seattle half of the field after the break, finishing with 25 shots on the game. SU goalkeeper Jake Feener just did get a touch on a shot by Steven Corbett in the 69th minute, re-directing it off the crossbar, and Dustin Munger rattled the frame about 30 seconds later.
 
On the other end, the Redhawks desperately searched for the equalizer, but the Portland defense and keeper Justin Baarts denied every attempt.
 
Baarts finished with four saves on the day, with his most impressive perhaps coming in the first half when he made a one-handed diving stop on a header by Hamza Haddadi.
 
12 of Portland's first 14 shots of the game were on-frame. Feener made a pair of saves in 1-v-1 opportunities by Escobar and Jaime Velasco early in the game, and the keeper also made saves on dangerous strikes by Escobar and Rhoads in the 26th minute.
 
Feener finished with 14 shots overall as the Pilots claimed a sizeable 25-11 edge in shots.
 
The Pilots remain at home this week for their lone match when Oregon State visits on Thursday night for a 6 p.m. non-conference game.