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Schedule

Jacob Babalai takes a shot in Portland's First-Round Playoff Match against UC Riverside.
1
UC Riverside UCR (8-8-4, 5-2-2)
2
Winner Portland POR (13-2-3, 6-1-0)
UC Riverside UCR
(8-8-4, 5-2-2)
1
Final
2
Portland POR
(13-2-3, 6-1-0)
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
UC Riverside UCR 0 1 1
Portland POR 1 1 2

Game Recap: Men's Soccer |

Pilots Stay Dancin' With 2-1 win Over Highlanders

PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Portland Pilots advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a stellar 2-1 win over the UC Riverside Highlanders. Portland improved to 13-2-3 on the season after the victory.

How it Happened

  • Portland started the scoring when Jacob Babalai scored his seventh goal of the season in the 17th minute, assisted by Sebastian Nava.
  • The Pilots added another score on a goal from Gurman Sangha -- his sixth goal of the season -- in the 47th minute, assisted by Babalai and Greg Tracey.
  • UC Riverside got on the board to make it a 2-1 match on Aleksander Vukovic's 89th-minute goal, keeping it interesting. Neither team, however, scored the rest of the way.

Game Notes

  • The Pilots advance to the second round of the tournament for the third time since 2018. The last time they did it in back-to-back seasons was 2003-04.
  • Portland's 13 wins on the year are the most for a Pilot team since 2002.
  • With 48 goals, the Pilots have put up their highest goal total since 1995.
  • Babalai becomes one of the three Pilot players to have at least seven goals on the year, joining CJ Tibbling (7) and Brandon Cambridge (12). They are the only WCC team to have three players with that many goals.
  • They are also the only WCC team with multiple players having scored five goals on the season.
  • The Pilots hadn't had a single player put up 18 points in a season since 2018. They have four this year in Cambridge (30), Sangha, Babalai and Nava (18 each).
Portland Head Coach Nick Carlin-Voigt on the win

"Every NCAA tournament is a battle and tonight I was proud of our group. Ecstatic for our seniors who continue to take care of business at home in the playoffs. The start of the second half was better and we settled in more and we got more control and established more possession. The second goal was important and we had chances to score the third to finish the game off. We will talk about ways to prevent their goal in the last 90 seconds. The tournament is about being good in both boxes and we did enough tonight to advance. We completed an incredible magical unbeaten season at Merlo, and we also want to acknowledge our women's team also did the same, so it was a dream fall season at Merlo for our players and supporters. We wish our women's team the best tomorrow and will recover as we travel down to OSU for the next round Sunday night. A special thanks to our students, administrators and presidents office for supporting out student section on a very windy, cold night."

Up Next

The Pilots are headed to Corvallis for a rematch against the Oregon State Beavers. Kickoff is set for Sunday, Nov. 20 at 6 p.m. Check PortlandPilots.com for more information.
 


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