PORTLAND, OR- Despite outshooting their opponent, the Soka University Lions fell to Multnomah University 2-0 after conceding two late second-half goals on Saturday afternoon at the Eastside Timbers Soccer Complex.

The two sides remained scoreless until the 78^th minute of the match, when Multnomah University was awarded a penalty kick. Multnomah's Noe Favila Mu stepped up to the PK spot, and converted his shot past Soka's sophomore goalkeeper Maxwel Barainca, giving Multnomah the 1-0 lead.

Ten minutes later, Multnomah's Bryan Labato tallied their second goal. The goal came after Barainca made a stellar first save for the Lions, but Labato found himself on the end of the rebound and placed it into the back of the net for the 2-0 win over the Soka Lions.

"It was a close game for us today and it was a tough loss for us in the end," said Soka University Head Coach Ian Eggleston. "I thought Multnomah was much better than us in the first-half, and were really controlling the game. We made a few adjustments at half-time, which our guys responded very well to. I thought we had the run of the play in the second-half, and we created several really good scoring opportunities, but just couldn't convert our chances. The penalty kick against us in the 78^th minute really took the wind out of our sails, and we conceded late after pushing for the equalizer. I tip my hat and congratulate Multnomah on the win, as they have some really talented players. For us, I'm extremely happy that five of our first-year players earned their first collegiate start in today's match, and now we look ahead to tomorrow as we have a quick turnaround game against Walla Walla University."      

The Soka Lions remain on the road, and travel to College Place, WA to face Walla Walla University on Sunday, Aug. 26, 2018. Kick-off is scheduled for 1 p.m.





Notes: This is the first meeting between Soka University and Multnomah University… Multnomah became an active member of the NAIA in 2015 and are members of the Cascade Collegiate Conference… The Lions outshot Multnomah 15-13… Soka's Harrison Mirolla and Leonardo Ortiz both took four shots on the day… Soka's Barainca made 4 saves… Yellow cards were shown to Soka's Gerardo De La Torre and Multnomah's Jason Monterroso and Matthew Dorn.