LOS ANGELES, Calif. --- Malcolm Dixon scored in the first half and Erik Edwardson and Benji Michel added goals in the second half as the Portland Pilots claimed a key road win, blanking the Loyola Marymount Lions 3-0 on Saturday night at Sullivan Field. Michel records his league best 10th goal on the year, and Portland goalkeeper Paul Christensen tallies his fourth shutout.
"Very important road win tonight," said Portland head coach Nick Carlin-Voigt. "This is a group that was committed to a shutout mentality, which is what we stressed all week. Our backline was up to the task tonight and Paul made some critical plays to ensure the clean sheet. Credit to LMU as they were on the front foot for the first part of the game. I knew coming in they had a good fighting spirit and they showed that tonight."
In the first few minutes of the game, Portland's (7-5-1, 2-0-1 WCC) Gio Magana-Rivera produced the first shot of the night in attempt to put the Pilots ahead early. The Lions responded moments later with four separate shots, but Christensen made three stops, and the other effort was comfortably wide as the game remained scoreless.
And then in the 36th minute, Magana-Rivera started an attack from about 35 yards out, taking on three defenders to slot a chance on the left side of LMU's goal, forcing goalie Collin Partee to produce a diving save. Dixon was positioned in the perfect place to put away the rebound for his first goal of the season, handing the visiting side a 1-0 lead they'd take into the half.
Christensen continued his solid play between the pipes in the second half, and Portland pushed their lead to 2-0 in the 64th minute when Edwardson collected his third goal of the fall. Rey Ortiz assisted on the play, giving the sophomore midfielder an impressive 11 on the year. Ortiz entered the weekend third in the nation in assists.
Michel capped the scoring for the Pilots when he found the back of the net with an unassisted strike in the 87th minute. Michel has been among the nation's leaders in goals all season, and he's just four goals shy of cracking Portland's all-time top-10 list for most goals in a season.
Ortiz is also approaching a single season record for assists, as he's just three short of matching the all-time program mark of 14.
"I was really pleased with our depth and all the players coming off the bench won us the game," added Carlin-Voigt. "What's great about our group is on the day we know we can count on different guys to step up and lift the team. Tonight Shane Aranda and Caua Soares had solid games, along with the consistent play of Gio Magana-Rivera, to get ahold of the ball and tempo of the game. Malcolm Dixon gave us an immediate spark not only with his game winning goal but his decision making. We will file the game away and prepare to play a very good Santa Clara team, who has had a great start to the WCC season. We are excited to get back to Merlo in front of our fans."
The Pilots return home next week to host Santa Clara and San Francisco at Merlo Field. The Broncos visit on Friday night for a 7 p.m. match, and the Dons follow on Sunday for a 3 p.m. kickoff.
