San Diego State women's soccer senior Sarah Halverson scored her second game-winner in as many games to help propel the No. 10/14/13 Aztecs to a 3-2 victory over No. rv/--/23 Portland at Merlo Field on Sunday afternoon. With the win, SDSU improves to 12-1-1 and the Pilots drop to 6-3-2 on the year.

Halverson, who scored the game-winning goal vs. Boise State in the 73rd minute on Friday, was at it again against Portland with her goal at the 74:22 mark. Megan Jurado set up the game-deciding sequence as the senior bent in a corner kick perfectly that allowed Halverson to fire an attempt into the lower left corner. The Aztecs also received a goal from redshirt senior Tiffany Hurst at the 6:47 mark and one from Jurado in the 18th minute for her ninth score of the season.

SDSU wasted little time out of the gate as it looked to gain momentum. The Aztecs notched the first attempt of the game as sophomore Haley Locker had a shot from the top of box blocked by a defender. Less than a minute later, fellow classmate Hannah Keane fired an attempt from the far right wing that required a save from Portland goalkeeper Erin Dees.

The next shot attempt by the Aztecs found the back of the net as Jurado set up Hurst for a shot to the left corner past a Pilot defender for a 1-0 SDSU lead.

After another attempt from Keane, the Aztecs connected on their second goal of the game when Jurado took a pass from junior Haley Palmer on the far left wing and fired a great shot from 24 yards out that hit the crossbar and bounced into the bottom right corner.

Despite SDSU leading the shot battle by a 7-1 margin, Portland took advantage of a penalty kick in the 26th minute as Amanda Frisbie connected on a goal to cut the Aztecs' lead to 2-1. The Pilots then managed to score the equalizer two minutes later on just their third shot of the game when Taylor Brooke tallied a goal off a corner kick.

In the second half, both teams battled in the early going as shots were traded back and forth. In the 70th minute, however, SDSU had a great scoring opportunity when freshman Victoria Barba had a shot from the far left wing blocked and then just missed on another attempt off the rebound.

The Aztecs continued to keep the pressure on Portland and they were able to gain control in the 75th minute when Halverson scored what would ultimately be the game-winner.

The Pilots kept looking for the equalizer as time clicked off the clock, but redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Rachel Boaz hung in there and didn't allow a goal to pick up her 12th win of the year. SDSU ended up winning the shot battle by a 17-13 margin, while it tied in shots on goal (7-7) and in corner kicks (3-3).

San Diego State will now continue Mountain West play on Friday at UNLV. The conference matchup is scheduled for a 7 p.m. PT start.

---

RECOMMENDED FOR YOU

Men's NCAA Tournament First Round Recap

TeamRank Presented By TeamSnap - Boys

Midwest High School Roundup - Nov.