SAN FRANCISCO – Late goals by Santiago Digiuseppe and Leon Schwarzer weren't enough to dig USF out of a 3-0 hole as the Dons fell to the Portland Pilots, 3-2 on Friday night at Negoesco Stadium.
 
The Pilots scored one goal in the first half and added two in the second before the Dons tallied a pair of scores in a one minute span near game's end. The win improves Portland's record to 8-3-1 overall and 2-0 in the West Coast Conference while USF falls to 5-6 and 1-1 in the WCC.
 
Portland made good on the only three shots it had on goal all evening in sprinting out to a 3-0 lead. The Pilots first two goals came off set pieces. Benji Michel gave the Pilots a 1-0 lead at the 26:22 mark of the first half when he one-timed the ball past USF keeper Andre Glasnovic off a corner kick from Eddie Sanchez.

The Dons had a chance to tie the game just before intermission, but Bryce Kaminski's header off a Schwarzer cross went over the cross bar.
 
The Pilots made it 2-0 at the 52:08 mark of the second half when Matthew Coffey's header off a well-placed corner by Sanchez found the inside of the left post.
 
Michel added his second goal of the night at 64:21 when the speedy freshman broke free and dribbled 40 yards before launching a shot 10 yards past the defenseless Glasnovic.
 
The Dons ended goalkeeper Paul Christiansen's shutout bid in the 88th minute when Kaminski set up Digiuseppe's second goal of the season. A minute later, Schwarzer drew the Dons to within a goal when he buried a shot from the top of the box into the upper right corner off an assist from Manny Padilla. It was Schwarzer's third goal of the season.
 
"We created some early chances that we weren't able to put away," said USF head coach Eddie Soto. "They have some dangerous players who caused some problems for us tonight and we were on the bad end of two set pieces.
 
"We didn't quit and scored two late goals, but I think we were a little passive tonight. We really didn't execute on the things that have brought us success in the last three matches but we'll regroup for Gonzaga on Sunday."
 
USF's match with Gonzaga on Sunday kicks off at 3:00 p.m. at Negoesco Stadium.