Senior Amanda Howie scored two late goals last weekend, one in each of the Vikings’ two games. Against Idaho State, Howie’s goal cut a two-goal deficit to one, though the Vikings lost. Against Weber State, Howie won the game for Portland State on “senior day.”
Senior Amanda Howie scored two late goals last weekend, one in each of the Vikings’ two games. Against Idaho State, Howie’s goal cut a two-goal deficit to one, though the Vikings lost. Against Weber State, Howie won the game for Portland State on “senior day.”
Karl Kuchs/VANGUARD STAFF
Amanda Howie scored in the 83rd minute in the game against Weber State this weekend. It was the only goal of the game.
The Vikings and the Weber State Wildcats were tied at zero for more than 80 minutes. PSU had multiple opportunities to score in both halves, though they failed to capitalize. The players and even the crowd at Hillsboro Stadium began to grow frustrated, until Howie blasted a shot into the back of the net in the 83rd minute.
“It was amazing,” Howie said. “I got excited. Our team did really good at holding the ball at the end, playing smart. We kept it for the win.”
The women bounced back after a loss on Friday against Idaho State. The Vikings fell behind by two goals and never managed to catch up. Howie was able to score in the second half on an assist from senior Amanda Dutra, but it wasn’t enough as Portland State fell 2-1.
Even with Friday’s loss on the Vikings’ victory on Saturday was enough to push them into first place in the Big Sky Conference. Montana is a close second, only two points behind PSU. The women still have one conference game left on the schedule, against Sacramento State.
“We’re going to win, mark my words, and then hopefully everything falls into place and we win the Big Sky,” Howie said.
Apart from an important victory, Sunday was a big day for the Viking seniors for other reasons. All the seniors lined up with their families before the game for senior day, as PSU celebrated the soccer careers of this year’s class. Howie was among them, and scoring a goal made today all that more special for her.
“A lot of emotions,” Howie said. “It means a lot, and I put it in there for the other seniors, too. We’ve all worked really hard these past four or five years. Our whole team has worked really hard. We deserve this.”
Head coach Laura Schott has also grown close with this year’s seniors, and appreciates the effort and hard work they have put into the program.
“They already have two conference championships under the belt,” Schott said.
“They have been a transformative class. If I started to talk about them individually we’d hit on a lot of records broken and a lot of MVPs. I’d have to go on for awhile. This class has been really important to our school and to our program.”
The Vikings play their last conference game of the season Oct. 19 against Sacramento State. PSU will then go on to play California State University, Bakersfield before the Big Sky tournament.
