Nov. 5, 2010

Box Score

PORTLAND, Ore. - Senior Rafael Baca found the net twice and LMU scored three unanswered goals to post a pivotal 3-1 victory over Portland in a West Coast Conference match on Friday night at Merlo Field in Portland. The win pushes the Lions (10-5-2, 6-2-1 WCC) into second place in the WCC standings and completes the season sweep over the third-place Pilots (8-4-5, 5-3-2 WCC).

With the teams separated by a point in the standings heading into the match, the game had serious implications for both sides as they battle for an NCAA Tournament berth. Coming off a 3-2 home win over the Pilots last month but having dropped their last two games, the Lions fell behind early but rallied for three goals to remain within three points of league leaders Santa Clara, who won 2-1 over Saint Mary's on Friday.

It was Portland who got off to the better start, taking the lead after 15 minutes on Steven Evans' fourth goal of the season. Evans surprised the Lions by striking with three defenders on him, finishing to the lower right corner for a 1-0 Portland lead.

The Lions would draw level in the 35th minute through junior Logan McDaniel. After LMU won a corner kick, junior Artur Jozkowicz swung it in to junior Jonas Reiter, who played it on to McDaniel. His strike beat UP goalie Austin Guerrero to the lower left corner for his first goal of the season.

McDaniel's equalizer got the Lions going and Baca put them in the lead for good two minutes from the break. Taking a pass from junior Phil Da Silva, the senior All-American candidate got his first goal of the year in the run of play with a finish into the lower corner.

The Lions carried the 2-1 lead into halftime and Baca made it 3-1 in the 61st minute to put the game out of reach. A failed clearance by the Portland defense left Baca in a one-on-one with Guerrero and the Lion captain won the individual battle to secure the win. The two goals give Baca 19 goals and 55 points for his career, pushing him ahead of Andres Murriagui and into fourth place on both the LMU career goals and points lists.

From that point on, the LMU defense held strong to secure the Lions' first win in Portland since 2004. Redshirt junior Jack McCormack made five saves in the Lion goal while Guerrero stopped three for Portland.

LMU closes out its road schedule with a visit to Gonzaga on Sunday at 1 p.m.