Friday, the Portland State Vikings women’s soccer team put on one of their best offensive performances of the season, beating the Eastern Washington University Eagles 3–1.
Goals came from three different players, starting with a penalty kick from sophomore Abby Bergquist. The penalty kick opportunity was created through an Eastern Washington handball in the box in the 10th minute.
The second goal came just 10 minutes later, as Ariana Cooley cleaned up a shot that deflected off the post and put the ball into the back of the net to double the Vikings’ lead. EWU was not quite done yet, as they got one of the two goals back in the 27th minute.
PSU went into halftime break up 2–1, but it did not come easily. EWU’s first goal gave them momentum, as they outshot PSU for the remaining 20 minutes of the half.
The Vikings did not give up their lead, however, and quickly regained their two-goal lead in the second half, after junior Cori Bianchini scored in the 50th minute. The goal was assisted by Bergquist, who found
Bianchini in the box. The junior did not have the best angle for a goal, but still managed to find the back of the net. That shot was the first of the second half for the Vikings, and that 3–1 score line would stay for the rest of the 90 minutes.
All points are important at this time of the season, with PSU competing to get themselves in the Big Sky tournament, which could ultimately lead to a berth in the NCAA tournament, which is a major goal of the team and head coach Laura Schott.
The three-point victory jumped the Vikings up in the standings within striking distance of the current Big Sky leaders, which includes a number of teams the Vikings have coming up on their schedule. PSU has not necessarily found their groove in the Big Sky yet, but finding themselves at the middle of the table with a majority of their conference schedule left puts them in a good position to get some points back from the leaders.
PSU has found their groove against EWU, who they’ve now beaten five times in a row. Going back even further, the Vikings haven’t lost to the Eagles in seven games. Games against EWU hold a special place for all Vikings sports because of the Dam Cup rivalry, in which PSU has now taken an early lead.
Vikings soccer will go on the road Friday for one game against Idaho State before returning home two days later to play Weber State. After that, PSU will finish out their road schedule with a two-game road trip against Northern Colorado and North Dakota. PSU will then return home for their final two games of the season; Oct. 26
against Idaho and Halloween against Sacramento State. If the Vikings qualify, the Big Sky tournament starts
Nov. 6.
