Portland started with an all out attack. It took less than 4 minutes for
the Pilots to put a goal in, and in the 14th minute, Shannon MacMillan
beat the keeper to give Portland a 2-0 lead. Having never seen either
team play before, it looked to me like Portland would win this one
walking away. For much of the rest of the half, Portland got up on the
attack with the great speed of their forwards. One or two Portland
players seemed to be just a step or two onside each time the ball was
played up, and these quickly turned into 1 v 1 situations. With about 13
minutes left in the half, Mustangs keeper Erin Poole made a wonderful
dive to tip away a Portland shot. Ryanne Bumps had a full-length of the
field run a few minutes before time, but the play was broken up by the
Portland defense in the penalty area. A minute later, SMU got on the
board with an own goal. Jody Dutra scored 2 and a half minutes into the
second half for Portland, and Justi Baumgardt put one in 10 and a half
minutes later. SMU then began to have long stretches of possesion in
their offensive end of the field. Danielle Garrett did a good job of
using her size and strength to get position, but many SMU shots were
directly into the arms of the Portland goalie. Amy Kline closed the gap
with a goal 11 minutes before full time, but the Mustangs couldn't
generate much more the remainder of the game.
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