San Diego scored four goals in a steady downpour Saturday and still left Torero Stadium chasing one more. No. 25 USD cut a three-goal Portland lead to 5-4 behind two Nicklas Peña strikes in less than two minutes, then had four late shots blocked or saved as the West Coast Conference leaders held on.
The Toreros played without injured captain Mathias Bauer and suspended defender Luca Fava, who was unavailable after a red card. Portland tested the changed back line immediately, scoring in the third minute. Samuel Rhoades answered in the eighth with his first goal of the season, but the Pilots restored their lead in the 12th and carried a 2-1 advantage to halftime.
USD pulled level again in the 51st minute when Santiago Ramirez scored his sixth goal. This time the tie lasted 42 seconds. Portland scored twice during the 52nd minute, the goals only 21 seconds apart, turning a 2-2 match into a two-goal deficit before USD could settle after the restart.
A Portland penalty in the 64th minute extended the margin to 5-2. The sequence gave the Pilots three goals in approximately 13 minutes and forced USD to chase with greater numbers. The risk created more space at both ends, but the Toreros finally converted it after Peña reentered in the 69th.
Peña struck a free kick from about 25 yards into the upper-left corner in the 71st minute. Less than two minutes later, he looped a shot from 18 yards to make it 5-4. He scored twice in 38 minutes of work, converting a match that looked settled into a final stretch in which Portland had to defend its penalty area rather than manage possession.
USD earned four corners and took five shots over the final six minutes. Portland goalkeeper Alexander McNaughton made a save in the 87th, four other efforts were blocked, and Joey Adams added a stop for USD in the 90th to preserve the last attacking chance. The equalizer never arrived.
The Toreros outshot Portland 17-14, including 12-7 after halftime, and held a 7-2 edge in corners. Nine combined goals were a season high, as were USD's four. Rhoades finished with a goal and an assist. Leon Bwanda, David Polz and Victor Salcedo also recorded assists before an announced crowd of 867.
Shot and corner totals show USD's pressure but not the cost of the defensive intervals. Portland scored five times on 14 attempts, with three goals packed into the first 19 minutes of the second half. The institutional recap does not provide an independent tactical review of the missing starters, so their absences cannot explain every breakdown.
USD fell to 6-3-3 and 1-1-2 in the WCC. Portland improved to 6-3-2 and 3-0. The all-time series is now tied 23-23-8. Those records place the nine-goal game in different contexts: the Pilots protected first place, while the Toreros lost for the first time in four conference matches despite their biggest scoring output of the season.
Pacific visits Torero Stadium on Saturday. USD can keep the aggression that produced 12 second-half shots, but it cannot require a two-goal burst to repair every defensive lapse. Against Portland, the Toreros answered three times and nearly found a fourth. The 42 seconds after the 2-2 goal decided how much answering they had left to do.