PORTLAND, Ore. --- It was an evenly played match between BYU and Portland on Saturday night, but in the end a second-half goal from Elise Flake proved to be the difference as the Cougars edged the Pilots 1-0 in the home finale at Merlo Field. It was also senior night for the Pilots, who honored Maddie Dieker, Hannah Griffiths Boston, and Ariel Viera with a pre-game ceremony.
 
After a scoreless first half, it was the Pilots who came out of the locker room energized, controlling most of the possession, while creating several good chances inside the final third. In the 47th minute, Kimberly Hazlett found Kaycie Young with a pass from the endline to the middle of the box, and Young collected it before getting off a shot. The attempt was deflected by a BYU defender, resulting in a corner, and the Pilots were unable to capitalize.
 
In the 55th minute, Taryn Ries played a ball in from right of the 18-yard box towards the far post. That's where Griffiths Boston elevated to get a head on the ball, but her shot was high of the crossbar as the game remained scoreless.
 
The Pilots had perhaps their best scoring opportunity in the 65th minute when Brianna Miyama played a brilliant ball forward, that created a 1-v-1 chance for Hazlett. But Hazlett couldn't avoid BYU keeper Hannah Clark, who came charging off her line to deny the shot.
 
Three minutes later Flake scored the only goal of the night when she was on the receiving end of a through ball from Mikayla Colohan. Flake took a touch right to create some space before finishing with a low hit inside the left post, handing the visiting side the 1-0 lead.
 
The lead would stand as BYU (7-6-4, 4-2-1 WCC) did enough down the stretch to preserve the shutout.
 
The Pilots (5-12-1, 2-6-0 WCC) were solid defensively, forcing BYU into taking shots from long range all night long. Flake's goal was one of the few attempts that was from inside the 18-yard box.
 
"I thought the defense once again showed some maturity and patience in their defending all night long, forcing shots that could be easily handled by Rachel Lusby," Portland head coach Garrett Smith said. "The goal was against the run of play at that time, especially after seeing the way we regrouped and started off the second half. We had two clear-cut chances that we need to score on, and it's unfortunate that we didn't get the result tonight."
 
Portland junior goalkeeper Rachel Lusby finished with five saves, while Clark countered with two.
 
Next weekend the Pilots end the 2017 season on the road when they travel to Malibu, Calif., to face first-place Pepperdine on Saturday at 1 p.m.