The University of San Diego men’s soccer team lost for the first time since Sept. 22, falling 2-0 against Portland at Torero Stadium on Saturday.

It wasn’t good, coming before a big crowd on Senior Night. But when you’re ranked No. 3 in the national coaches poll and undefeated in conference play, it’s not the end of the world.

The Toreros (12-2-2, 6-1-0) almost certainly will make the NCAA Tournament no matter what happens in the regular-season finale next Saturday at Loyola Marymount. And they still can win the West Coast Conference — and its automatic NCAA berth — with a win or tie against LMU or an Oregon State tie or loss.

That’s the big picture, USD coach Brian Quinn said. For us, it’s taken three years to get there and you don’t want to give it up so easily. The fortunate part for us is we have another bite at the cherry next Saturday up at LMU, but I don’t think it’s going to be any easier than tonight.

A ho-hum first half that didn’t feature a shot on goal by either team turned wild after intermission.

Portland had a goal disallowed by offside, a decision that was robustly argued by the Portland bench and drew a yellow card. Then Portland midfielder Nick Fernandez scored a goal that counted in the 64th minute after a poor giveaway by the USD defense.

Then the Toreros twice had hard shots saved on one-handed lunges by Pilots goalkeeper Miguel-Angel Hernandez.

Then USD defender Owen Walz was issued a red card for his second yellow. The fourth official had blown the sideline horn for substitutions moments earlier, and Walz ran toward the bench only for the referee to continue play. Walz sprinted back on the field and executed a hard tackle on Portland’s Muslim Umar.

The officials huddled and, after a lengthy discussion, rescinded the yellow, which erased the red.

The Toreros continued with 11 men but couldn’t find the equalizer. Portlands Joe Highfield provided the clincher in the 83rd minute.

I’m disappointed with the loss but not with the way we played, Quinn said. It was a very competitive game. There was a little spell right after halftime where we were on top for 15 minutes with two real chances. That’s what happens in soccer. Unfortunately, we made a couple mistakes and they put them away.

At this level, with a good crowd, and a playoff-type atmosphere, that’s what we want to come up against. Hopefully that primes us for the postseason.

It was only the second loss in the Toreros’ last 21 WCC games. If they claim the title next week, it will be their third straight.

Two years ago in the NCAA Tournament, they played on the road at Denver in a snowstorm and lost in overtime. Last year, they got a home game in the first round and lost against Cal Baptist in a penalty shootout.

The goal this year is to take the next step and get a first-round bye as one of the top 16 seeds in the 48-team tournament, followed by a home game in the second round against a tired opponent that has to travel.

The rankings in the coaches poll suggest thats in play, but the selection committee tends to pay more attention to the RPI computer metric still used in men’s soccer. The Toreros were No. 7 this week and likely to slide after tying the 5-4-7 Pilots.

What are their chances at a first-round bye?

Fifty-fifty now, Quinn said. I think if we would have won tonight, 100 percent we would have had a bye. Now having to go to LMU, we probably need a win to get a bye.