Soccer drops two on the road

The Portland State women’s soccer team seems to be suffering from a mild case of homesickness. After twin 3-0 victories at home in the opening weekend of conference play nearly two weeks ago, the Vikings this weekend lost their first two road games of the Big Sky schedule.

The Viks narrowly lost 2-3 to Northern Colorado in Greeley on Friday in a double-overtime game. Following that, the Viks went scoreless in a 2-0 loss Sunday to Northern Arizona in Flagstaff.

After these results, Portland State (6-9-1, 2-2-0 Big Sky) is currently fourth in the conference standings with six points from four matches, but still remains in playoff contention. The Vikings had started the weekend on top of the Big Sky table.

The Vikings went into Friday’s game against Northern Colorado with a perfect 5-0-0 record against the Bears. Last season, the Viks held off a late rally from Northern Colorado at PCC-Rock Creek and won the home game 3-2.

Playing at a high altitude on Friday, the Viks started without the team’s joint top-scorer, junior forward Melissa Trammell. Portland State fell behind early, when in the sixth minute, Northern Colorado took the lead. Bears’ sophomore Danielle Birdsall shot the ball from the edge of the penalty box into the lower left-hand corner of the Viks’ net, past senior goalkeeper Rachel Jarvis.

This was Jarvis’ second consecutive game as Portland’s State’s only goalkeeper during the match. Going into the halftime break, Portland State was outshot 12-6 in attempts on goal.

In the second half, the Viks drew level in the 52nd minute. Junior forward Kala Renard scored her fourth goal of the season. She placed the ball into the bottom right-hand corner of Northern Colorado goal.

However, the Vikings’ celebration didn’t last for long. Northern Colorado quickly took the lead for the second time in the 54th minute. Bears senior defender Katey Borman took a crack at the Vikings’ goal from 25 yards out. The ball deflected off Jarvis’ gloves and went into the net.

As the clock rolled down, the Vikings desperately tried to level the score for the second time in the game. In the 81st minute, PSU’s efforts bore fruit. Freshman winger Eryn Brown received the ball from fellow freshman central midfield Hannah Kimsey on a counter-attack. Brown found herself in a one-on-one duel with the Bears goalkeeper and rounded the goalkeeper, shooting the ball in the lower right corner of the net. The Viks drew level 2-2 against the Bears at the end of 90 minutes.

Both teams were unable to break the deadlock in the first overtime period. But early in the second overtime period, Northern Colorado’s freshman forward Britanny Dunn shot the ball from just outside the box. The ball ricocheted off the inside of the left post and into the Vikings’ net. The Viks couldn’t draw level again and conceded a 2-3 defeat.

“We played very well in many ways against Northern Colorado,” head coach Laura Schott said. “It’s unfortunate that simple defensive errors cost us the result.”

Going into Sunday’s game, Portland State’s record against Northern Arizona was nothing like its perfect record against Northern Colorado. The Vikings had lost every matchup against Northern Arizona in Flagstvaff.

On Sunday, the Viks matched the Lumberjacks pound-for-pound in the first half, and trumped Northern Arizona in attempts on goal, 8-6. Sophomore goalkeeper Lainey Hulsizer made her first start of the Big Sky season in place of Jarvis and held her net. In the 45th minute, senior left back Emily Rohde let one rip and struck the Lumberjacks’ crossbar.

In the second half, Northern Arizona blitzed the Vikings defense with their aerial prowess, scoring two goals in three minutes. Northern Arizona senior Brandy Carr executed a diving header on a free kick to give the Lumberjacks a 1-0 lead in the 71st minute.

In the 74th minute, junior forward Jenna Samora made it 2-0 by heading the ball into the net from senior Kristi Andreassen’s free kick. Samora scored the game winner against the Viks in the 86th minute last season, and also scored the equalizer in the semifinals of last year’s Big Sky Championship against the Vikings. The match ended 1-1 and Northern Arizona went on to win the tournament after beating Portland State 4-3 on penalty kicks.

The Vikings next take on Weber State in their final away game of the regular season on Wednesday. ?