Soccer season in review

It was a cold Friday evening at PCC-Rock Creek on Nov. 6 when the curtains came down on the 2009 Portland State women’s soccer season.

The Vikings lost to Northern Arizona in the semifinals of the Big Sky Championship in a closely contested shootout after a stalled double-overtime match. But once the dust settled, the outcome of the season was very clear. The Viks are a force to be reckoned with on the soccer pitch.

Portland State won the Big Sky regular season championship for the second time in the program’s history, and finished the season with an enviable 10-6-4 record. The Vikings were the highest-ranked Big Sky team in the NCAA women’s soccer ranking. The defense conceded a miserly 21 goals all season, while the offense tallied 25 goals. The team earned nine selections to the Big Sky All-Conference Team, including both the offensive and the defensive MVPs. 

Here is a recap of the Vikings’ record-breaking 2009 soccer season.

August Rush (1-2-0): Portland State began their 2009 campaign with a 1-0 upset over arch-rivals Oregon State in Corvallis. It was a symbolic win for the Vikings, and a sign of things to come.

“That game was significant not only because OSU had a great team this year, but also because it opened our season with a win,” head coach Laura Schott said.

But defensive lapses saw the Vikings allow eight goals in their next two games. The Viks lost at home (1-3) to a low-ranked Boise State and were defeated 5-0 at Pacific.

September Steam (3-3-1): The Portland State defense united and displayed great grit and resilience against Schott’s alma mater, then-No. 16 California, narrowly losing the game, 1-0.

“I’m very proud of our team’s overall defensive effort this fall,” Schott said. “I’d say experience is one of the reasons we improved this year. We played five freshman in starting roles much of last year, so our sophomore class this year was much more experienced having played 20 games.”

In the month of September, the Vikings played just two games at home, but still managed to salvage three wins and a draw. The victories included shutouts over Nevada (3-0), Wyoming (1-0) and North Dakota State (1-0).

October “Big” Sky (6-1-2): October saw the Viks truly finding their rhythm. The team won all four home games, including victories over Big Sky rivals Northern Colorado (3-2), Idaho State (4-1) and Weber State (2-0).

They finished the regular season with a 4-1-2 record in conference, crowning them the Big Sky regular season champions.

“During this past year, one of my personal goals for this program was to improve our attack. We needed to attack with more confidence and consistency if we wanted to be at the top of our conference. This year we started to attack with more consistency and got results,” Schott said.

Dolly Enneking, senior and all-time Portland State leading goal scorer, was awarded the Golden Boot and the Big Sky Offensive MVP. Enneking finished the season scoring 12 goals. Senior goalkeeper and co-captain Cris Lewis was named the Big Sky Defensive MVP for her consistent performance in the net for the Vikings.

November Heartbreak (0-0-1): The Vikings played Northern Arizona in the semifinals of the Big Sky Championship at PCC-Rock Creek. Despite taking an early lead in the fifth minute, the Viks could not keep the advantage and, after a 1-1 double-overtime draw, lost 4-3 to the eventual champions in the shootout.

Regardless of the postseason loss, Schott expressed happiness with her team’s 2009 performance.

“There are always things we want to improve on,” she said. “But overall, improving our record from 5-11-4 to 10-6-4, winning the conference championship and having nine players named to all-conference teams is a great achievement. It shows that our players have become more dedicated to improving and being successful.”

Schott said she still has her sights set on a conference championship.

“Sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce our way, but if we are the most consistent team in the conference, I believe it will bounce our way more often than not,” she said.
 

                            PSU    Opponents
Goals                  25        21
Shots on goal    115      127
Corners               86        54
 

Cris Lewis
8 shutouts
104 saves
1873:50 minutes in goal

Dolly Enneking
12 goals
3 game winners
3 assists
23 shots on goal

Frankie Ross
3 goals
2 game winners
3 assists
22 shots on goal