NW briefs: Huskies men end tourney in 3-2 defeat

PORTLAND — Twelfth-ranked Creighton edged Washington, 3-2, in men's soccer action at the Nike Portland Invitational yesterday.

The loss was the first for the Huskies (1-1), who won their season opener over Cal Poly (3-1) on Friday. Creighton (1-0-1) and Portland battled to a 1-1 draw on the tournament's first day.

Yesterday's match was a physical affair that included a wild second half — the teams combined for four goals in a 22-minute span, and seven of the game's nine cautions were issued after the break, including a red card to Creighton head coach Bob Warming in the 74th minute.

Eric Blythe and Mike Chabala accounted for Washington's two goals.

The Bluejays broke a 1-1 tie in the 65th minute, when Byron Dacy nailed a 16-yard shot past sliding Huskies goalie Chris Eylander to give CU a 2-1 advantage. Refusing to go down quietly, the Huskies came back when Chabala scored on a 23-yard free kick. It was the second goal in as many games for Chabala.

In the 81st minute, Dacy served a cross to Michael Kraus, who booted the ball from 6 yards for the game winner.

Other men's soccer

• UC-San Diego (2-0) withstood an offensive pounding from Seattle University (3-2) to take a 2-0 victory yesterday at Championship Field. The loss, in which Seattle outshot UCSD 22-11, ended Seattle's home win streak at 13 matches. The Redhawks were shut out for the first time in 27 matches.

• Concordia's Mirzet Sacirovic scored three goals, lifting the Cavaliers (1-2-1) to a 4-2 victory over Pacific Lutheran (2-1) at the Arno Zoske Tournament in Olympia.

In other tournament play, Evergreen State (2-1) grabbed a 2-0 win against the University of British Columbia.

• Gonzaga (1-0-1) and Detroit played to a scoreless tie in the Fr. Leo Sweeney Jesuit Cup in Chicago. Bulldogs keeper Vito Higgins picked up his third career shutout and first of the season.

Women's soccer

• Seattle University topped Cal State Bakersfield 3-1 at Championship Field. Ashley Porter led the Redhawks, assisting on the team's first two goals before scoring the third herself to help lift the Redhawks to 5-0 on the season — their best start since 1997 when they opened the season at 6-0.

• Andrea Gabler scored an unassisted goal with 7:45 left in regulation as Pacific Lutheran (1-1) broke into the win column with a 1-0 victory over host UC-Santa Cruz (2-1). The Lutes were outshot 14-7 in the game, but Alyssa Blackburn made six saves to record the shutout.

• Washington State (3-1-0) suffered its first loss of the season as Vanderbilt (3-1-0) defeated the Cougars 1-0 in Nashville.

• It was a long afternoon for the teams at the Whitworth Invitational, with both games going into overtime. Cal State East Bay lost to Whitman 2-1, while Whitworth and Chapman tied 1-1 in double overtime. With the tie, Chapman clinched invitational championship.

Rowing

Seattle rowers helped the United States capture gold in the men's eight and silver in the lightweight women's double sculls yesterday at the FISA World Rowing Championships in Gifu, Japan.

In the men's eight, former Husky Matt Deakin helped the U.S. finish in 5 minutes, 22.75 seconds, 1.26 seconds ahead of Italy to successfully defend its world title.

In the lightweight women's double scull, Julie Nichols of Pocock Rowing Center and Renee Hykel finished just 0.30 seconds behind Germany for the silver medal.

In other results, former UW coxswain Mary Whipple finished fourth with the U.S. in the women's eight, and Pocock's Anna Mickelson finished fifth in the women's quadruple sculls.

Note

• The Seattle Thunderbirds lost 1-0 to the Spokane Chiefs at the Everett Events Center in the third game of their preseason schedule.

Also in Everett, the Silvertips fell 4-2 to the Portland Winter Hawks.

Compiled from sports-information reports and other sources.