PORTLAND, Ore. - Down 2-0 in the second half, California men's soccer fought back to score once off a strike by Francisco Perez. But in the end the Golden Bears fell to Portland, 2-1, on Tuesday night at Merlo Field.

Cal's record now stands at 6-4-2 after the nonconference result. Portland improved to 6-5-1.

Portland took a 1-0 lead at 18:57, when Jacobo Reyes lifted a free kick over the Cal wall, past diving goalkeeper Drake Callender and into the upper corner of the goal.
 
At 28:24, Callender made a nice left-handed save on a close-range shot by Portland's Gio Magana-Rivera to keep the deficit at one goal.
 
The Pilots, who had a 6-1 shots advantage in the first 45 minutes, took the 1-0 lead into halftime.
 
In the second half, Portland took a 2-0 lead on a point-blank shot by Greg Tracey.
 
Cal had a good share of possession and tied Portland on shots, 5-5, over the remainder of the game. The Bears pulled one goal back when Perez took a pass from forward Jonathan Estrada and scored from 21 yards out.
 
The Bears produced three corner kicks over the last six minutes but couldn't find the net again as time ran out.
 
Cal returns to Berkeley and to Pac-12 Conference play when it hosts UCLA on Oct. 31 at 4 p.m., with the Pac-12 Networks televising the match.