PORTLAND, Ore. – Saint Mary's Men's Soccer fought hard against No. 9 Portland on Friday night, tying the game in the 51st minute before a penalty shot put the Pilots back ahead for good in a 2-1 loss to open WCC play.
 
Portland was even down a man after a second yellow card on Nicholas Denley in the 62nd minute, but managed to hang on and keep SMC from equalizing a second time.
 
The Gaels began to control play midway through the first half, exemplified by an Omar Yehya blast in the 29th minute that required a diving save by the Portland keeper to his left.
 
But in the 31st minute, a Portland shot deflected off the upper-left corner of the goal where the post meets the crossbar right onto the foot of a Portland attacker who flicked it into the net from inside the six-yard area for a 1-0 Pilots lead.
 
SMC had an opportunity to tie the game just four minutes later on a free kick in the 35th minute from Riley Lynch that deflected off the top of the cross bar and went out of play.
 
Saint Mary's would tie it up in the 51st minute when Yehya stuck with the play in front of the net and scored on a second chance. Freshman Luke Lawrence fed a cross from the left side of the penalty area to the right side of the six-yard box that was headed in front of the net.
 
Yehya got a foot on it midair to flick it over to Lynch, who chipped it back over to Yehya and he put it in the back of the net for his third goal of the season to make it a 1-1 game.
 
But a penalty kick was awarded to Portland after Cade Cowan bumped the Pilots attacker from behind in the 59th minute. The Pilots Brandon Cambridge shot the penalty kick into the left side of the net to reclaim the lead at 2-1.
 
The physicality of the game picked up shortly after the Gaels' goal and the yellow cards began to fly with 10 yellows issued, including the second card on the Portland player that left them shorthanded for the final 28 minutes.
 
The Gaels' best chance to tie the game again came in the 82nd minute when a Wade Muttitt shot came within inches of equalizing before a diving save by the Pilots keeper to his right, who needed time to recover after landing hard on his shoulder to stop the shot.
 
UP NEXT:
SMC will continue WCC play in San Diego next Friday, October 7 at 7:00 p.m.