Spring soccer brings goal drought

During the spring offseason scrimmages, Portland State soccer has had difficulty regaining the goal-scoring touch that helped the team win the Big Sky regular season championship last fall. In a match against Division II Seattle Pacific at the Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation on Saturday, the Vikings fell 4–1.

Sophomore Megan Martin scored the lone goal for Portland State off of an assist from junior Kala Renard. The Viks are coming off a hard-fought 3–0 loss to NCAA favorite Portland and a 1–0 defeat by Seattle over the last two weeks. Last year’s Big Sky Coach of the Year, Laura Schott, said the goal in the offseason is to keep getting better and work toward fall tournaments.

Last season, the Vikings amassed a 10–6–4 record and scored 25 goals, almost half of which came from outgoing senior Dolly Enneking, the Big Sky Golden Boot winner and Offensive MVP. Her attacking partner and 2008 Golden Boot winner, Frankie Ross has often played on the right this season. This spring, the Vikings have managed to score just one goal from their three outings.

“We have been talking about who is going to step up and be the goal scorer for us this season,” team captain and senior Rachel Jarvis said. “Hopefully we will figure it out in the next spring games and the summer. We have some really good forwards on the team.”

The Vikings have also been forced to play with a makeshift defense for most of their spring season.

 “We will be missing at least one of our returning defenders for almost every game in the spring. We are playing without our lower back,” Schott said.

Without outgoing seniors, Defensive MVP and goalkeeper Chris Lewis and defensive midfielder Nathalie Wollmann, the Vikings have conceded eight goals in three games in the offseason.

The Vikings play next in the Portland State Alumni game at 5 p.m. on May 1 at the Stott Community Field. Kickoff is at 5 p.m.