Photo Gallery  |  Postgame Sound: Nick Carlin-Voigt and Andrew Gregor

PORTLAND, Ore. --- The Portland Pilots and Portland Timbers 2 played an even match for 90 minutes, but in the end an own-goal proved to be the difference as T2 escaped Merlo Field with a 2-1 win in a friendly played on Friday night.
 
Eddie Sanchez scored Portland's goal in the 51st minute, and it came with the Pilots trailing 1-0. The junior midfielder received a pass from the right side, took a few touches along the top of the box and buried a low shot into the right corner of the net to level to score.
 
But T2 responded eight minutes later as a well-placed cross fell to the feet of Villyan Bijev near the far post. Bijev then finished with a half volley to give the lead back to the pro side.
 
The lead would stand as T2 was fortunate to avoid a late equalizer from the Pilots. Portland was awarded a free kick during the final minutes, and junior midfielder Matt Coffey sent a dipping cross into the box. The ball took an awkward bounce in front of the T2 keeper and nearly found the inside of the right post, but it was just wide and T2 would hold on for the victory.
 
The Pilots were the aggressive team early, sending a handful of crosses into the box during the first 15 minutes. Brandon Zambrano then provided the game's first shot, but he hit it wide in the 23rd minute.
 
The game evened out from there, and T2 got on the board in the 41st minute, courtesy of a Portland own-goal. A cross was sent in from the right, and the ball ended up in the back of the net when it deflected off a Portland defender.
 
Moments later, Portland goalkeeper Paul Christensen kept it a 1-0 game with a nice stop on a well-hit shot from about 12 yards out. And then just before the half, Sanchez nearly leveled the score when he tried to sneak one inside the right post. But his shot was just wide, and T2 entered the locker room with the one-goal advantage.
 
The second half began with a pair of diving saves from Christensen. First he denied a shot about a minute in, before making a stellar save on a free kick in the 48th minute. The ball was whipped in towards the right post, where Christensen was somehow able to get a touch on it to re-direct it. The shot then hit the post and safely away.
 
The game was one of the first for the Pilots with first-year head coach Nick Carlin-Voigt at the helm. Carlin-Voigt came to The Bluff after spending the past four years as the associate head coach for the UCLA Bruins.
 
The match also marked a return to Merlo Field for T2's first-year head coach Andrew Gregor, a UP men's soccer alum who starred on The Bluff in the mid-1990's. Gregor helped Portland reach the NCAA College Cup in 1995.