MORAGA, Calif. - The Saint Mary's Women's Soccer team (8-2-3, 2-1-1) took down the Portland Pilots 2-1 on Saturday afternoon at Saint Mary's Stadium for their second WCC win of the season.

The Gaels struck first in the match after a foul was drawn on Portland (5-7, 1-3) by Emily Jensen just outside of the top-left corner of the penalty area in the 27^th minute. Suzuna Shibukawa lofted a perfectly-placed ball to the right side of the goal mouth where it was headed into the back of the net by Maya Alcantara for her first goal of the season to make it 1-0 Saint Mary's.
 
It was Shibukawa's fourth assist of the year and the play would foreshadow the Gaels second goal of the game. In the 35^th minute, the Pilots would commit a foul in nearly the exact same spot on the field, this time with a yellow card issued for takedown of Alexis Gutierrez by Portland's Ashe Camille. Shibukawa would again take the penalty kick, and rather than send it to the right side of the six-yard box she bent it into the upper-left corner of the goal past the leaping Pilots keeper for a 2-0 Gaels lead and her seventh goal of the season.
 
The Gaels dominated possession to start the second half, keeping the action in the defensive end of the Pilots as they looked to extend their lead or at least prevent Portland from getting any scoring opportunities.
 
But with about 25 minutes left to play, desperation kicked in for the Pilots as they began to play very aggressively. Portland would try to run everything as quickly as possible and push ahead in their formation, but also became physically aggressive with some rough take downs. One led to a warning from the referee and another led to their second yellow card of the day being issued.
 
The Pilots generated four shots and created three corner kick between the 71^st and 81^st minutes. The aggressiveness paid off when the Pilots pushed ahead with a pass to Nedya Sawan who fought through two Gaels defenders and stuck with the loose ball after it looked like Saint Mary's had thwarted her attempts. She was able to pounce on the loose ball and put it into the lower left corner of the net in the 88^th minute to cut it to a 2-1 game.
 
Sawan would get another shot on goal in the 89^th minute that was handled by keeper Taylor Poland who made five saves on the night, and her ensuing kick downfield after the save helped the Gaels salt away the last minute and preserve the 2-1 victory.
 
UP NEXT
The Gaels will head south to take on Loyola Marymount on Wednesday, October 20 at 7:00 p.m.