Viks head to Big Sky Soccer Championship

 After recording the best performance in program history in the regular season, the Portland State women’s soccer team will attempt to do this weekend what no soccer team from the Park Blocks has done before: win the conference tournament.

Portland State plays Sacramento State today in the semifinals of the Big Sky Championship in Flagstaff, Ariz. The winner will advance to the championship match and play for the tournament title and the conference’s automatic bid in the NCAA College Cup.

The Vikings closed their regular season with a school-record five wins from seven games after a win over the Sacramento State Hornets at Hillsboro Stadium last week. The victory gave Portland State a No. 2 seed in the tournament and the Hornets a No. 3 seed which, interestingly, pits the teams against each other in the semifinals.

The other semifinal pits tournament hosts No. 1 Northern Arizona against No. 4 Northern Colorado later this afternoon.

“Our games against Sacramento State are always very competitive and it’s always good to get a win in the last game of the season,” Portland State head coach Laura Schott said earlier this week. “But we have to take the win again when we play them down in Arizona.”

The rivalry between Portland State and Sacramento State stems back six years. Before this season, the last time the Vikings defeated the Hornets was in 2004. The Hornets were also the last conference team to beat the Viks at home during the regular season, in 2006. Since then, the Vikings have remained undefeated at home in the regular season.

In last Friday’s meeting with the Hornets, the Viks dominated in the first half and took the lead in the fifth minute when sophomore midfielder Amanda Dutra made a through pass to senior forward Frankie Ross, who scored her fifth goal of the season on a breakaway.

This week, Dutra was named as the Big Sky’s Offensive Player of the Week. In less than two years, she has nine assists to her credits.

In the second half, the Vikings substituted many of their starters. As a result, the Viking defense was pulverized by the Sac State offense with 18 attempts on goal. However, the Viking defense held on to the single-goal lead.

The Vikings have made it to the playoffs in each of the past three seasons; however, their playoff exploits have always ended prematurely in the semifinals. In 2007, Sacramento State defeated them 2-1 in California, and in 2008 and 2009 it was Northern Arizona that ended Portland State’s quest for the tournament title.

This season, Portland State’s offense has scored 13 goals in the regular season, two more than last season. On the defensive end, the Vikings have been just as miserly as last season, conceding just five goals during conference play and keeping a clean sheet in every home game.

This week, the Viks received more good news as the All-Conference teams were announced. Ross and junior defender Toni Carnovale were each named First Team All-Big Sky for the second time in their careers.

Dutra and freshman winger Eryn Brown were Second Team All-Big Sky selections, and junior defender Esty Geiger and freshman midfielder Hannah Kimsey received honorable mentions. ?