Box ScorePORTLAND, Ore. --- Portland's Brandon Zambrano found the back of the net in the 21st minute and goalkeeper Paul Christensen made six saves as the Pilots shutout the Seattle Redhawks 1-0 in an exhibition game played on Saturday night at Merlo Field. The Pilots next set their sights on the regular season when they welcome No. 9 Michigan State to The Bluff next Friday.
Zambrano's goal came on a corner sent in by Matthew Coffey, who drove a ball towards the far side of the 18-yard box. The ball fell to the feet of Zambrano, who calmly buried a shot past SU keeper Shane Haworth.
The Portland defense and Christensen's work between the pipes would then hold the Redhawks scoreless the rest of the way. Just minutes after Zambrano's goal, Christensen denied the potential equalizer when he dove to make a stop on a header from Hamza Haddadi.
It was more of the same in the second half, and in the 48th minute Christensen knocked down another shot from Haddadi, with this one coming from point blank range. Then in the 61st minute, Christensen made a diving save near the right post on a hard hit ball off the foot of David Olsen.
Kienen Weekes played the final 28 minutes in goal for the Pilots to combine with Christensen on the blank sheet.
Next Friday's game with the Spartans is set for 7 p.m. and it will be preceded by the Bite on the Bluff, which is scheduled to start at 5p.m.
