In a match where they outshot the visiting San Francisco Dons by a 18-12, the Pilots were not able to find the net while the visitors from California found the net twice in a match played in front of 939 fans on a chilly day at Portland's Merlo Field. Chris Schwarze scored in the 50th minute to give the Dons a 1-0 lead, and Ben Stuart converted a penalty kick in the 66th minute for the 2-0 final.

For the first 20 minutes, the match was all Pilots as the home side scarcely let the Dons get control of the ball. The Pilots had a series of corner kicks, mostly looking for midfielders making runs to the far post, but were unable to get a shot on net. After having been unable to put any shots on net off balls crossed into the box, the Pilots nearly snuck a goal by the Dons keeper in the 17th minute when Nate Jaqua hit a hard shot from 35 yards out that required a diving save to the left by Dons goalkeeper Mark Muleady. One minute later, the Pilots had the best scoring chance that either team would see in the first half when a ball from Paul Robinson had Jaqua deep into the box where his shot was smothered by Muleady, but trickled in front of the net mere yards from the net, but the ball was cleared before any Pilots could get their foot on the ball.

The Dons didn't have a good chance at goal until the 20th minute when Chris Schwarze got a good header off a corner kick, but it was right at Pilots goalkeeper Curtis Spiteri, who saved easily. Two minutes later, Portland's Kyle Tanner had a brief open look from the top of the box, but this shot was a few yards wide right. In the 26th minute, Eric Cronkrite had another good opportunity to put the home side on the board when he got control of the ball near the penalty spot, but his shot was blocked wide right by a San Francisco defender.

Curtis Spiteri gets to the ball just before Josh Hansen

The flow of play was opening up more, and the Dons were again threatening when Luke Holmes' shot from 20 yards out forced a diving save to the left from Spiteri. In the 37th minute, John Domingo's chip from 25 yards out was only kept out of the net by a last-second punch by the Dons keeper. In the 41st minute, Jaqua once again was able to push deep into the Dons box and attempted to make a low cross to Jarrod Weis, but Muleady smothered the ball and the Pilots attack was thwarted. In the last minute of the first half, the Dons had one more good scoring chance when Schwarze's header off a free kick went wide left, and the half ended scoreless.

The Dons were clearly looking to open up the attack more in the second half, and just four minutes in, a long ball into the run of Josh Hanson was barely smothered by Spiteri just before Hanson was able to catch up with it. But just one minute later, the Dons got the opportunity they were looking for when the Pilots were not able to clear a cross into the box, and it fell to the feet of Schwarze, who shot out of a crowd inside the box just eight yards from net, but the shot barely eluded Spiteri to his left, and the Dons had grabbed a 1-0 lead.

For the next 15 minutes, the Dons did a good job of keeping possession as they protected their lead. In the 52nd minute, Hansen nearly doubled the lead when he barely missed the left post from 25 yards out. Play was largely in midfield for the next ten minutes with neither team seriously threatening, but the key point in the match happened in the 66th minute when a ball was played into the run of Hanson, and the Dons forward got to the ball at the same time as a charging Spiteri, but the Pilots goalkeeper couldn't find the ball and Hanson went down inside the box. Spiteri was red carded for the challenge, and on the subsequent penalty kick, Ben Stuart converted into the left side of the net as Spiteri's replacement Justin Carter guessed wrong.

Spiteri punches the ball out of the box

Forced to play catch-up with only 10 players, the Pilots were able to keep pressure on the Dons goalkeeper, but were playing a risky game by often keeping only two defenders back. In the 67th minute, off a corner kick, the Pilots had a golden opportunity to pull one goal back when Muleady was unable to control the high ball, and it fell to the feet of Sean Babcock, but the Pilots midfielder's shot from just outside the six yard box went just wide right. In the 78th minute, a diagonal run into the box from Portland's Sheldin Maistry had the Pilots forward in alone, but his shot from an extreme angle went wide to the left. Jaqua kept the ball in play and brought it around toward the front for another chance, but his shot went just wide right.

With eight minutes left in the match, Maistry had a good look for the Pilots from 20 yards out, but his attempt to chip the Dons keeper went wide to the right. Two minutes later, the Dons looked to widen the lead even more when Nick Kounalakis rose well for a header from just 10 yards out, but pushed the header just past the right post. With four minutes remaining, a run from Weis into the Dons box produced another good chance for the Pilots, but he pushed the shot wide left. Jaqua collected the ball off the endline and crossed to a charging Miastry, who stumbled as he hit a shot from the top of the box, and the ball was saved easily. The Pilots had one final shot on net with two minutes left when Heath Pearce's shot from the top of the box went a few yards over the bar, but in the end, the Pilots never found the net as they suffered their first West Coast Conference loss of the year on the short end of a 2-0 score.