Soccer closes out season with senior day

The Portland State women’s soccer team has pride and  a playoff position at stake when it closes the regular season today by hosting Sacramento State at Hillsboro Stadium.

The Vikings (4-2-0 Big Sky, 8-9-1 overall) secured a position in next month’s conference tournament last week with a win over visiting Idaho State, but their postseason seeding depends upon the results of this weekend. This is Portland State’s third straight year in the conference tournament.

The four tournament teams were all decided in the penultimate week of league competition, and all but three seeds will be decided in this final week. Northern Arizona secured the Big Sky regular season championship last week and earned a No. 1 seeding.

The Viks—last season’s regular season titleholders—are currently in second place, but could drop as far as fourth with a loss or tie today. Sacramento State (4-2-0 Big Sky, 7-8-1 overall) is in third place, and Northern Colorado (3-1-2 Big Sky, 10-4-3 overall) rounds out the postseason players at fourth place.

While PSU and Sac State are facing each other, Northern Colorado and Northern Arizona will be squaring off in Flagstaff, Ariz. Interestingly, if the positions of the top four teams remain where they are, these final games could become a dress rehearsal for the Big Sky semifinals.

The Vikings will hold an advantage over the Hornets this weekend, as they have not lost a regular season match at home throughout the past four seasons.

“The Sacramento State game is always big for both teams,” Portland State head coach Laura Schott said. “It is a very important game and I look forward to it.”

This is the fifth-consecutive season that the Viks have played the final game of the regular season against Sacramento State. The last two encounters between the schools ended in ties and set up interesting postseason scenarios.

Last season, the Vikings and Hornets drew to a 0-0 finish in Sacramento, Calif., leaving the door open for Northern Arizona to take the regular season title with a final-game win. However, NAU lost its final game to Northern Colorado and dropped to fourth place, giving the Viks the regular season title.

In 2008, Portland State and Sac State again tied, 0-0, in the final game of the season. Both draws pitted Portland State against Northern Arizona in the conference tournament semifinals, which the Vikings lost on both occasions.

With Northern Arizona assured of the first seed in the playoffs, the Vikings would need to finish above fourth to avoid playing them in the semis for the third successive time. Northern Arizona is undefeated in conference play, and they enter this weekend riding a five-game winning streak.

On the other hand, Sacramento State is coming off a 3-1 victory at home against Idaho State. The Hornets defense, led by goalkeeper Savannah Abercrombie, is one of the roughest in the league. They lead the conference with

85 fouls from six games.

For Portland State, this will be the final home game for senior goalkeeper Rachel Jarvis, senior left-back Emily Rohde and senior forward Frankie Ross. The outgoing seniors will be honored prior to the game as a part of Senior Day.

Ross currently leads the team with 12 points (four goals and four assists) in 2010. She is also tied for second place in assists (11) and fourth place for goals scored (11) and points (33) in the career record books.

The Big Sky Women’s Soccer Championship will be held Nov. 5–7 in Flagstaff, Ariz., on Northern Arizona’s home pitch.

First kick of the Vikings’ final regular season game is scheduled for 4 p.m. today at Hillsboro Stadium. Live stats will be available at goviks.com. ?