PORTLAND, Ore. --- The Portland Pilots knocked off the undefeated No. 8 Oregon State Beavers 1-0 at Merlo Field on Thursday night. Hugo Rhoads hit the game winner and Paul Christensen made seven saves to earn his second shutout of the year.

Portland (2-4-1) had plenty of chances early in the game against OSU (5-1-0). In the 24^th minute Eddie Sanchez did well to body meg the Beaver defender on the right side of the field before hitting a cross into the box to the feet of Matthew Coffey who controlled the ball and laid it off for a streaking Colby Trah. The OSU defense collapsed on Trah whose shot went just wide of the net for the first opportunity for the home side.

Portland earned a corner in the 27^th minute that the Beavers did well to clear from the box. The clearance did not get past Hugo Rhoads who was posted up 25 yards away from the goal. Rhoads took the ball down with his first touch and then drilled a shot through the traffic, off of and OSU defender, and into the right side net of the Beaver goal.

The Pilots almost made it 2-0 just ten minutes later when Sanchez's left footed shot sent OSU goalkeeper Nolan Wirth into the upper 90 to keep the ball out of the back of the net. On the ensuing corner, Geoffrey Dunn sent another shot on goal that was blocked by a Beaver defender.

Christensen came up big to end the first half and preserve the Pilot lead heading into halftime. OSU's Jordan Jones got on the end of a cross to send the ball toward the Portland net. Christensen made a reaction save from point blank distance for his second save of the half.

Sanchez looked to make his mark on the match right out of the break when he got on the end of a Coffey cross just three yards from the Beaver goal. The ball took a deflection off of a Beaver defender and went out for a Pilot corner.

With OSU knocking on the door, Christensen turned away a pair of shots in the 67^th minute that kept the Pilots up 1-0.

The Beavers turned up the pressure in the final ten minutes of the game forcing the Pilots to bunker down.

Second half substitute Jackson Jellah went into a tackle against an Oregon State midfielder that head referee Josh Wilkens deemed worthy of a red card. The ejection forced Portland to play the final three minutes of the game with ten men.

This did not phase the relentless Pilots who sat in to give the Beavers their first loss of the season.

The Pilots will take a ten day hiatus before taking on the Washington Huskies in Seattle, Wash. on Sept. 27 at 3:00 p.m.