PORTLAND, Ore. – San Diego State defeated Portland on the road, 2-1, Sunday afternoon to win the Nike Portland Invitational at Merlo Field. The victory marks the Aztecs’ third in a row and extends their unbeaten streak to five games. Overall, SDSU is 4-1-1 on the year, while the Pilots, who have played one of the toughest schedules to date, fall to 3-4.

 

At the conclusion of the tournament, a pair of San Diego State true freshmen were honored for their performance at the two-day event. Aliyah Utush was named the tourney’s offensive MVP after she scored both of the Aztecs’ goals in a 2-1 victory over Washington on Friday. Stacie Moran, meanwhile, earned defensive MVP accolades after helping hold the Huskies scoreless the final 49 minutes and limiting the Pilots to one goal, which occurred in the 87^th minute.

 

As is customary when these two teams meet, the contest was a close, well-played affair and the first half was no exception as neither squad was able to find the back of the net. In fact, after 45 minutes of action, each team attempted three shots and one corner kick.

 

The Aztecs came out of halftime with an extra pep in their step and finally broke through in the 56^th minute. A pair of seniors were in sync on the play as Haley Locker fed Kelsey Booth, who slotted her shot into the left corner from five yards out. For Booth, it was her second goal of the year and the assist was Locker’s first of 2014.

 

Nearly 25 minutes later, SDSU gave itself a little bit of cushion when sophomore Morgan Darling ripped a shot from 10 yards out that deflected off a Pilot defender and into the lower left corner. The goal was Darling’s first of the season and was unassisted.

 

Trailing by two goals, Portland continued to look for opportunities to cut into the Aztecs’ lead. Almost 10 minutes had passed and San Diego State looked as if it would escape with a shutout, but UP’s Jess Kennedy put her shot past Melanie Vaughn (three saves) in the 89^th minute to cut the Pilots’ deficit in half. From that point forward, SDSU was able to run out the final 95 seconds on the clock to emerge with the win.

 

Portland ended the game by outshooting San Diego State, 10-8, but each team put four shots on goal. The Pilots also won the corner kick battle, 4-2. Despite finishing with fewer shots and corner kicks, SDSU managed to defeat UP for the third time in the last four seasons and in back-to-back trips to Merlo Field.

 

The Aztecs also won for a fourth time in six games this season, which is ahead of last season’s pace. In 2013, SDSU was 1-3-2 after six games and did not win its fourth game until Sept. 29, before turning in a record of 13-7-2, winning the Mountain West regular-season and conference tournament titles and earning an NCAA tournament berth.

 

San Diego State returns to action on Friday, Sept. 19, when it travels across town to face San Diego. First tap is slated for 7:30 p.m. PT and the game will be streamed live courtesy USDToreros.com. A season ago, the Aztecs downed the Toreros, 3-0, at SDSU Sports Deck.