PORTLAND, Ore.---The Pilots created several chances throughout, yet the result remained at a scoreless standstill with No. 11 Loyola Marymount after 110 minutes in a West Coast Conference men's soccer match held on a rainy Sunday afternoon at Merlo Field. Portland picks up their first draw of the year in their WCC home opener, while the Lions are still undefeated on the young season.
 
The Pilots (1-2-1, 0-1-1 WCC) seemed to control much of the first half, managing to keep the pressure on LMU's side, and just edged the Lions (3-0-1, 2-0-1 WCC) in shots with three. All three chances came midway through the half, but were well defended by the Lions' backline. The Pilots looked most dangerous following a Buba Fofanah feed from Nick Fernandez that was blocked by a Lions defender. Luke Hendel found another shot blocked shortly after, and Miguel Yuste provided the team's third scoring chance of the half in the 23rd minute.
 
The Lions came out of the halftime break by putting up 10 shots, six of which were saved by Portland goalkeeper Jacopo Viola, who notched his first career start back in the net for the home side. The Pilots were able to create four more chances of their own, but couldn't produce the game winner following the end of regulation time.
 
The Pilots' best scoring chance came about midway through the second overtime period, after Fofanah was taken down with a hard tackle only a couple of feet outside of LMU's 18-yard box. Yuste took the kick but sent it over the bar to preserve the nil-nil result.

"We continue to show growth and steps forward in each match," said head coach Nick Carlin-Voigt. "I was very proud of the guys' mentality and togetherness today in the face of incredible adversity which we have been dealing with this season. I thought we played an excellent first half and continue to get better."

"You can tell we're only in our third game with our sharpness in some phases of play," said Carlin-Voigt. "The timing of the final action will come as we get more time to build cohesion and chemistry. We had good chances in our build up where we are just one detail away. Credit to LMU for being a really organized opponent who are an experienced group. There is a reason they are in the top 15 in the country and we went toe to toe all game and probably both teams are disappointed not to get 3 points. I couldn't ask for more buy in from this group as they keep finding ways to positively respond to adversity and stick together as a family."

The Pilots will head north this week for a non-conference match-up with Seattle on Wednesday, Mar. 17. Kickoff is scheduled for 4:00 p.m.