PORTLAND, Ore. --- Portland's Matthew Coffey scored his third goal of the season and Rey Ortiz collected his 13th assist, but the San Francisco Dons escaped Merlo Field with a 3-1 win over the Pilots in a West Coast Conference men's soccer game played on Sunday afternoon at Merlo Field. The assist leaves Ortiz just one shy of matching the program's all-time single season record.
 
USF (6-8-0, 3-1-0 WCC) struck first with an early goal in the second minute. Bryce Kaminski had possession inside the 18 before driving a shot off the right post. The ball fell to the feet of Tawwab Emiola, who hammered it into the top shelf to give the visiting side the 1-0 lead. San Francisco's goal came after an apparent foul committed by the Dons in the penalty area at the other end of the field was overlooked.
 
The game remained 1-0 until the Pilots equalized on a deft finish by Matthew Coffey in the 40th minute. Rey Ortiz sent in the initial ball on a corner, and Benji Michel headed one towards the frame from the top of the 18. Coffey then found the back of the net by flicking on the ball with the outside of his foot.
 
San Francisco re-claimed the lead just before the half when Manny Padilla sent in an early ball from right of the 18-yard box. Leon Schwarzer then used his back heel to sneak a shot inside the left post as the Dons took a 2-1 lead into the locker room. It's goal number five on the season for Schwarzer.
 
The Dons would push the lead to 3-1 when Aaron Lombardi whipped in a perfectly placed crossed near the top of the six-yard box, and Santiago Digiuseppe finished with a header.
 
From there the Pilots (8-6-1, 3-1-0 WCC) continued to create chances and continually sent balls into the box. But the home side couldn't connect with a final touch as the Dons prevailed.
 
"Today was a game without a lot of rhythm or tempo," Portland head coach Nick Carlin-Voigt said. "USF disrupted the game and chopped it up and we needed to respond better in critical moments. We had three uncharacteristic defensive breakdowns in the box when they had very few opportunities, so full credit to them. The game is cruel sometimes, where we get a breakaway in the first minute of the game and then they come down and score on the next play and now we are chasing two minutes in. The margins are small this time of the year. We will learn from this and bounce back more determined. The WCC race is very tight and we will look forward to our next game against Gonzaga. I have a bunch of winners in the locker room and they will return hungry to Merlo field Saturday night."

With two games remaining in the regular season, the Pilots still sit in first place of the WCC standings with 10 points. Lurking are both Pacific and San Francisco with nine points, but they both have three games remaining as they will face each other on Nov. 8 in a make-up game from a previously postponed contest.
 
Ortiz is chasing the assist record of 14, which was set back in 1991 by Joe Leonetti.
 
The Pilots remain at home next week to host the Gonzaga Bulldogs on Saturday night. Kickoff at Merlo Field is set for 7 p.m.