PORTLAND, Ore. --- After 81 minutes of scoreless soccer, Erik Edwardson finished on a through ball from Eddie Sanchez and the Portland Pilots claimed a 1-0 shutout over the Loyola Marymount Lions in a West Coast Conference men's soccer game played on Friday night at Merlo Field. The win is the sixth in a row for the Pilots, which is the longest streak for Portland since also winning six straight in 2011.
 
Edwardson's goal was set up by a perfect pass from Sanchez into the 18-yard box. Edwardson then got just enough of a touch on it to finish past a pair of defenders and the LMU keeper inside the right post, handing the Pilots a lead they wouldn't relinquish.
 
Portland goalkeeper Paul Christensen made sure of that as he came through with a clutch save on an LMU shot in the 90th minute.
 
The win runs Portland's record to 10-3-1 overall and to an unblemished 4-0-0 in the WCC, for the Pilots' best start to conference since also opening 4-0-0 in 1992. The Pilots also have their best record after 14 games since 1995.

"Great for the guys to earn the win tonight against a very good and talented LMU team," said Portland head coach Nick Carlin-Voigt. "I thought the guys made some good adjustments in the second half and created three really good goal scoring chances and were able to score an important goal. We hit two posts before breaking through and that's a mindset we had tonight to be relentless and hungry in the box. Getting our second conference shutout was important and I thought the guys were very committed to both sides of the ball tonight as we had a good competitive edge. We now will recover and prepare to face the defending WCC champions in San Diego." 
 
The Pilots created more dangerous chances than the Lions in the first half, including in the 30th minute when Conor Johnston sent in a cross. Benji Michel was there to get a shot off, but he sent it high of the cross bar.
 
In the 39th minute, Dirk van der Velde whipped in a ball towards the far post. Johnston did well to get a head on it, but he sent it wide left. Moments later Sanchez hit a powerful shot wide of the right post from 18 yards out, and the two sides would enter the locker room at half scoreless.
 
Christensen then opened the second half with diving save on a well-hit LMU shot from distance in the 48th minute.
 
And with the game still scoreless, the Pilots had a pair of shots rattle the woodwork. In the 54th minute, Sanchez took a couple of touches near the top of the box before drilling the underside of the cross bar. The ball somehow stayed out.

Michel then hit the cross bar with a shot from a tough angle near the left post in the 60th minute.
 
Christensen kept the game at 0-0 with another stellar save in the 62nd minute when he punched an LMU free kick over the bar. The junior keeper finished with three saves on the night for his fourth shutout of the year.
 
The Lions drop to 7-8-0 and to 1-3-0 in the WCC.
 
Next up for the Pilots is a visit from the San Diego Toreros on Sunday, with kickoff set for 2 p.m. at Merlo Field.