In their final match before beginning the three-week whirlwind that is the Big Sky Conference soccer season, the Vikings (4-6-1) snapped a three game losing streak Friday, battling the Rebels of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (4-3-4) to a scoreless tie in 110 minutes.
Portland State was at a disadvantage from the opening kick after UNLV won the coin toss and elected to attack the Vikings in the first half with 40-50 mile per hour winds at their back. The Rebels took advantage of the wind and out shot the Vikings 7-1 in the first 45 minutes.
“The wind gusts made us work a lot harder than we should have in the first half, then died in the second. So, we never got the same advantage [the Rebels] had,” said Vikings head coach Tim Bennett. “With the winds and the distraction that Vegas already is, a 0-0 tie isn’t bad for us.”
The Vikings continued a recent trend of being out shot but not outplayed, giving up 21 shots to the Rebels. Sophomore goalkeeper Cris Lewis snagged 11 saves, moving her into fifth place on Portland State’s all-time saves list.
In the previous five matches, the Vikings had been out-shot 96-31, resulting in two wins and three loses. Heading into the opening weekend of Big Sky play this coming Friday, Bennett pointed out three areas they will be focusing on to bring them success.
“First is our work rate. We have to out work people, and we’ve been doing that. We’ve learned that we have to battle and fight and working hard has become a habit,” Bennett said. “Second, we have to work intelligently. Everything has to be done with a purpose. Third is execution. When we possess the ball we have to be sharp if we want scoring opportunities to materialize. If we do all three of those things we win easily.”
Consistently putting those three things together has been difficult for the Vikings thus far, but in comparison to a year ago at this time they are much improved. Last season, they stumbled into conference play winless with a 0-11-1 record. After Friday’s draw they are now 4-6-1.
“Last year we had a lot of freshmen who didn’t know what the Big Sky was about, but that year of experience is huge,” Bennett said. “These next three weeks are why we trained for the last nine months.”
Big Sky soccer matches
Idaho State 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 12 PGE Park
Last meeting: Vikings def. Idaho State 1-0 (OT)
Weber State 12 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 14PGE Park
Last meeting: Weber State def. Vikings 2-1