PORTLAND, Ore. – The No. 18 Portland Pilots scored two goals early and added two more late in a 4-1 victory against the Jacksonville Dolphins Saturday night at Merlo Field. Junior Rey Ortiz tallied a goal and an assist, while junior Benji Michel scored late to extend his streak of a goal scored in each of the team's first five matches.
Junior Esteban Calvo headed in his first goal of the season to open the scoring, while freshman forward Alejandro Pereira converted a penalty for his first career goal with Portland.
The Pilots (4-0-1) remained unbeaten with the dominating victory as the team outshot the Dolphins (0-5-0) by an 18-8 margin on the night.
The scoring begin in the third minute when Ortiz whipped in a free kick to the near post from the right side. Calvo got to it first and his firm header from 12 yards out snuck under the crossbar for the 1-0 lead.
Michel then earned the penalty kick in the seventh minute as he beat Jacksonville goalkeeper Eli Lasley to a loose ball in the box and drew the foul. Pereira stepped up and calmly finished to double Portland's margin.
Jacksonville responded with a header goal from Alex Dixon off a corner kick service from Inti Antunez in the 10th minute to give the Dolphins life.
The Pilots threatened throughout much of the next hour run of play but were unable to break through until the 77th minute. Pereira received a long pass between three defenders and was able to find fellow freshman Greg Tracey in some space. Tracey fed Ortiz at the corner of the box and he drilled a screamer into the left side netting for his second goal of the season.
Michel then extended his goal-scoring streak in the 85th minute. He beat the defense down the left side to the end line. After cutting back he was 1-v-1 with Lasley at a sharp angle. Michel blasted a shot to that ricocheted off the near post, hit the back of Lasley and then bounced back into the goal.
Portland senior goalkeeper Kienan Weekes improved to 4-0 after making four saves, while Lasley stopped two shots between the pipes for the Dolphins.
The Pilots continue the season-opening homestand on Friday with a soccer doubleheader at Merlo Field. The Portland women will host Oregon at 5 p.m. followed by the men against No. 23 Washington (4-1-0) at 7:30 p.m. Tickets for all Portland home soccer matches are available by visiting
PortlandPilots.com/Tickets.