Weekend Split

Portland State freshman Megan Martin drove in her second game-winning goal of the season on Friday to lead the Viks to a 3-2 win over Northern Colorado in their first match of the Big Sky Conference, extending their unbeaten streak in conference openers to eight games.

But on Sunday, Northern Arizona’s Jenna Samora scored the lone goal of that match in the 85th minute to hand Portland State their first conference loss.

Portland State head coach Laura Schott said Friday’s win felt good.
“We really had to get this one out. There were a lot of things that didn’t go our way during the game, but we battled through it and we won. So I am happy,” she said.

On Friday, the Vikings jumped to an early 1-0 lead in the fifth minute, as reigning Golden Boot winner Frankie Ross scored off precision passes from freshman Michelle Hlasnik and senior Dolly Enneking. Ross sniped the shot from the edge of the box into the lower left corner of the net, just beyond reach of keeper Kirsten Salminen.
Schott said she is hopeful that Ross, at 5-feet-8-inches, will continue to stand out in the Big Sky.

“Her work rate is a very important factor in her game. And it’s always nice for her to go after the ball in the air when you have some extra inches over the opponent,” she said.

After Ross’ early goal, the Vikings carried the momentum for the first 30 minutes of the half and held the Bears to just one shot. Portland State senior midfielder Nathalie Wollmann marshaled the pitch vocally on offense and on defense, accounting for three shots and an assist.

“Our goal is to win the Big Sky Conference,” Wollmann said. “And to come out and get a victory…is awesome.”
Wollmann fired one shot that rattled the crossbar and another on goal in the 40th minute that the Bears’ keeper mishandled. Dolly Enneking, Portland State’s new all-time leading goal scorer, took the chance to attack the loose ball.

With herself, the keeper and a defender on the ground in front of the ball, Enneking scooted herself to within reach and booted the ball into the net to score her eighth goal of the season and make it a 2-0 game.

With their aggressive offense, Portland State led Northern Colorado in shots taken (13-6) and recorded a season-high three offsides in the first half.

In the second half, the Bears came out with a new attitude to test the Viking defense. Forward Ariel Cook struck in the 74th minute, collecting a ball off a Viking defender’s shin guard and firing it towards the net to convert the shot and make it a 2-1 match.

With the game within one goal, both teams started fighting for ball control with physical play as both teams combined for 14 fouls.

Portland State freshman Megan Martin came off the bench for Ross in the 79th minute and immediately made her presence known. Martin redirected a shot from teammate Wollmann to nearly sneak one into the net, but the Northern Colorado keeper came up with the save.

But Martin would get the last laugh, as she worked the ball up the right wing from midfield and fired a high, curving shot from the outside the box to hit the back corner of the net and make it a 3-1 match.

Northern Colorado’s head coach Tim Barrera took control of his team and continued to test the Viks physically. Less than two minutes after Martin’s goal, Bears’ freshman Alexsys Tamayo scored to keep her team alive at 3-2, with 1:38 left to play.

But the surge was too late for the Bears, and they fell to a 4-6-1 record overall, and 0-1-0 in the Big Sky Conference.

Portland State’s victory on Friday was goalkeeper Cris Lewis’ seventh win of the season and the 21st of her career. She chalks up Northern Colorado’s two second-half goals as mental lapses, but says the Vikings will get it right by the next game.

“The communication among us is very important and we always try to keep the talk up during the game,” Lewis said. “Northern Colorado was able to find some spaces where there usually aren’t. But that’s why I am there, so that I can just gobble them up.”

In Sunday’s match in Flagstaff, Ariz., the Vikings lost to Northern Arizona as Jenna Samora scored the lone goal of the match in the 85th minute to give the Lumberjacks their first conference victory.

The goal came as Northern Arizona’s Breanna Boies made a cross to the penalty box. Vikings’ keeper Lewis stepped up and deflected the ball, but Samora found the back of the net with a header to give the Lumberjacks a 1-0 win.

The Vikings play their next match on the road against Eastern Washington at 4 p.m. on Friday.

Friday
                        Portland State            Northern Colorado
Score                                    3                                     2
Shots                                  24                                   14
Shots on Goal                      9                                      8

Scoring Summary:
5:32    Frankie Ross                
40:01     Dolly Enneking        74:50     Ariel Cook
86:41     Megan Martin        88:32     Alexys Tamayo

Sunday
                         Portland State            Northern Arizona
Score                                     0                                     1
Shots                                     7                                      8
Shots on Goal                        3                                     6

Scoring Summary:       
85:55    Jenna Samora