Nebraska Falls 4-1 at Portland at NCAA Tournament

<?xml:namespace prefix="st1" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags"?>Portland, Ore. ? Freshman Brittany Timko recorded her fourth goal of the season and her third of the postseason, but the defending national champion Portland Pilots were too much for the Huskers, taking a 4-1 win Sunday afternoon at Merlo Field in Portland, Ore.<?xml:namespace prefix="o" ns="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office"?>

 

“Congratulations to Portland, they are an excellent team,” Coach John Walker said. “We fought hard, hung in there, but at the end of the day the better team won. This is always a tough place to play. You’re always going to play a tough team at Merlo Field.”

 

The loss ended Nebraska’s season at 13-8-1 and broke NU’s seven-year NCAA Sweet 16 streak. Portland improved to 18-3-1 and will go on to face Santa Clara in the round of 16.

 

Playing in heavy rain and strong winds, the Huskers got down early with a goal by Lindsey Huie on a deflected shot that she put back in at the 20:44.

 

The Huskers held firm and played solid defense for the remainder of the half, but with two minutes and 35 seconds remaining in the opening period, Portland struck again when Wanda Rozwadowska took a short cross from Kristen Rogers and nailed the shot from about seven yards out to give the Pilots a 2-0 advantage going into halftime.

 

“Their goal before the half definitely hurt us,” Walker said. “We would have liked to go into the half one-nil, so that one hurt.”

 

The Pilots never let down as they continued to fire shots and stretched the lead to 3-0 just 16 minutes into the second half on a Kristen Moore shot from the top right corner of the box off an assist by Lisa Sari.

 

It was Sari who posted the fourth goal of the game at the 71:41 mark on a shot that went off the left post and into the Husker net to give the Pilots a 4-0 advantage.

 

The Huskers never gave up, however, as Timko recorded Nebraska’s only goal of the game on a shot from about 25 yards out that deflected off a defender and averted the Husker shutout at the 80:40 mark.

 

“It’s always tough to play Portland,” Timko said. “We knew it was going to be tough. Every game is a learning experience for our team so hopefully we’ll bounce back. Portland came out really strong and we played hard the entire game.”

 

 

Portland outshot Nebraska 20-8 for the contest, including a 12-2 first half advantage, and an 11-3 edge in shots on goal.

 

Angie Woznuk and Rozwadowska led the Pilots with five shots each, while Vern Fitzgerald and Timko led the Huskers with two shots a piece.

 

NU freshman Katie Wright recorded seven saves on the day, while giving up all four Portland goals. Cori Alexander posted two saves and allowed one NU goal in the Portland net.