Viks claim second place

Portland State women’s soccer capped its best regular season performance on Friday with a victory over the very team they are now set to face in the conference tournament. The Vikings defeated visiting Sacramento State 1-0 at Hillsboro Stadium to close scheduled play with a program-best 5-2-0 record against Big Sky Conference opponents.

“I think it’s huge to break the barrier of five wins in the regular season,” said Portland State head coach Laura Schott. “We gutted it out in the game today and came out of it with the results. We had an outstanding first half, but we came out a little bit in the second.”

The Vikings (9-9-1, 15 points) finish the season in second place in the conference standings and will play the Hornets again in Flagstaff, Ariz., in the Northern Arizona-hosted Big Sky Championship semifinals this Friday.

Portland State’s win in Hillsboro marked the first victory over the Hornets since 2004 and also extends the Vikings’ winning streak at home during conference play to four seasons. In 2006, Sacramento State was the last Big Sky team to defeat PSU on their own pitch.

Going into the final week of the regular season, the four conference tournament teams had already been decided. Northern Arizona clinched the regular season title and with it the hosting rights to the championship, and PSU, Sac State and Northern Colorado were all playing for tournament seeding.

In an eerie scheduling premonition, the outcome of the season resulted in having the last two scheduled matches replayed in this week’s tournament semifinals.

Friday’s match against Sacramento State also held some historical significance. Since 2006, the Vikings have played the Hornets in the final game of the regular season. The last two encounters ended in draws, setting up clashes with the Lumberjacks in the tournament semifinals, which Portland State lost both times.

This season, Northern Arizona is undefeated in conference and enters the tournament with six-straight wins. The Lumberjacks have not lost since Sept. 12.

In Friday’s game, Schott went with her winning combination but slightly shuffled the formation from the team that defeated Idaho State the week prior. She put freshman midfielder Eryn Brown on the left wing and sophomore midfielder Michelle Hlasnik on the right.

“We started out really well,” sophomore midfielder Amanda Dutra said. “We tried some new things. We are coming together as a team at a perfect time. We came out a little slow in the second half, but we fought it through and came out with a win.”

The Viks started the game with resolve and took the lead early in the fifth minute on a breakaway goal from senior forward Frankie Ross. Dutra played a defense-splitting throughball to Ross, who charged down the middle through the Sacramento State defense and buried the ball into the bottom right of the net.

It was Ross’ fifth goal of the season, and with it she is now the fourth-leading goal scorer and point scorer in program history. She also ranks second in assists.

“Frankie had a great goal,” Dutra, who took four shots in addition to the assist, said. “She was very composed in front of the goal.”

Ross had four yellow cards going into the game, and a fifth meant a suspension from the playoffs. Erring on the side of caution, Schott replaced the senior forward with junior Melissa Trammell. She also replaced freshman midfielder Hannah Kimsey early in the half because of card trouble.

Some time later, the news reached Hillsboro Stadium that Northern Arizona had taken a 1-0 lead against Northern Colorado, indicating that if the result remained the same, both Portland State and Sacramento State would play each other again in the Big Sky semifinals.

However, this news did not deter the Viks from continuing their attacking momentum. In the eighth minute, Dutra took a left-footed shot that went slightly wide. In the 10th minute, Dutra unleashed another left-footer from a distance. Sacramento State’s goalkeeper Savannah Abercrombie had to tip the ball over her net to keep it out.

Dutra, who leads the team in shots, said that even though her shots are on target, she wants to score.

“I am tired of hitting the post or hitting it wide,” she said. “I’ll keep taking the shots and hopefully they will go in in the tournament.”

In the 14th minute of action, junior forward Kala Renard calmly headed the ball and set up Ross, whose shot was saved by Abercrombie. Dutra once again took a crack at goal and rattled the Hornets’ crossbar in the 20th minute.

Going into the halftime break, Portland State led Sacramento State in shots, 9-3. Senior goalkeeper Rachel Jarvis just had one save to make, compared to three by Abercrombie. The Viks also led the Hornets 3-0 in corner kicks.

The second half, however, was a different story. After realizing that they would play the Hornets again regardless of the result, coach Schott decided to rest many of her starting 11 at the start of the second half.

Sacramento State replaced only one starter, and the Hornet offense blitzed the Viking defense with 18 attempts on goal and eight corners in the second period. The Vikings took only three shots in the half and didn’t earn another corner kick.

In spite of the barrage, the Vikings stood their ground and prevented the Hornets from netting the tying goal. At the end of 90 minutes, the score remained 1-0 and the Vikings earned their fifth shutout in league play.

The game also marked the last home game for three Portland State seniors. Ross, Jarvis and left back Emily Rohde were all commemorated before the start of the match. Jarvis started the game in place of sophomore goalkeeper Lainey Hulsizer, who had started the week before.

“I would like to congratulate our seniors,” Schott added. “Our senior goalkeeper got a shutout, and another had a game-winning goal. It’s been great having them in the program. They have had very good careers and I just want to thank them for being Vikings.”

Next up for the Vikings is a Big Sky semifinal match against Sacramento State in Flagstaff, Ariz., on Friday. ?