Reigning Golden Boot winner and Portland State junior Frankie Ross scored her second goal of the season on Sunday to secure a 1-0 road victory over Montana and aid her Vikings in their fight for Big Sky contention.
Just two days earlier it was sophomore defender Toni Carnovale who chalked up her first career goal and led the Viks to a 1-1 draw against top-of-the-table Eastern Washington in Cheney on Friday.
In their third conference match of the season, Portland State trailed for much of the match and left it until late to score the equalizer. With Eastern Washington leading 1-0 and with only 42 seconds left in regulation time, Carnovale scored the first goal of her career to level the score and sent the game into overtime.
Speaking before the game, Viking head coach Laura Schott was aware of the Eagles’ position at the top of the conference.
“They are a hard-working team that isn’t afraid to make contact with the opposition,” she said. “I expect a very direct, hard-hitting game plan from them. They always bring a lot of energy to conference games.”
And that is exactly what Portland State got, as the Eagles out fouled the Vikings 17-10. But Portland State was the more direct of the two teams, with 21 shots compared to Eastern Washington’s 18. The Vikings also had nine corner kick attempts compared to just one for the Eagles.
The Eagles took the lead in the 35th minute, with their leading goal-scorer Brittany Sparks scoring her 10th goal of the season after receiving a 20-yard pass from the midfield. Sparks ran with the ball for nine yards and slotted the ball past keeper Lewis Clark for what seemed to be the game winner.
With the clock running down, coach Schott pushed Carnovale into the midfield and—in the last minute of regulation play—Carnovale scored the much-needed equalizer. She received the cross from freshman Michelle Hlasnik and drove the ball into the back of the net.
The match would go into two overtime periods, but neither squad was able to find the net. The draw ends a decade-long losing streak in Cheney dating back to 1999.
In Sunday’s match in Missoula, Portland State climbed to a tie for third place in the conference with a convincing 1-0 win over Montana.
Playing in front of their home supporters, the Grizzlies were quick off the blocks with an early shot attempt at the Viking goal that sailed wide.
Midfielder Ross turned the tide to favor the Vikings with three shot attempts in less than two minutes of play. In the 18th minute, after receiving a pass from senior Dolly Enneking, Ross fired an audacious chip shot that would make its way over Montana goalkeeper Grace Harris’ head and into the net to give Portland State a 1-0 lead.
In the second half, Harris was replaced at keeper by Alex Fisher, but this did nothing to stop the Vikings offense from testing the new keeper. The Viks fired nine shots at goal during the half and Ross almost made it 2-0 with a shot that bounced off the woodwork in the 81st minute.
The Vikings held the lead to record their first clean sheet in the Big Sky Conference. The 1-0 win was senior goalkeeper Cris Lewis’ 15th career shutout.
Speaking about the need to prevent late goals, Schott said, “Concentration through completion is at the top of the list. You can’t play 89 good minutes and expect that one other minute to take care of itself. One minute can determine the outcome of a soccer match.”
That Vikings defense lived up to the coach’s expectations. The Grizzlies were outplayed by Portland State as the Vikings lead the charts in both the shots on goals, 17 to 12, as well as corner kicks—four to Montana’s one.
The Vikings host in-form Idaho State this Friday and then Weber State in their final home game on Sunday.
Friday
Portland State Eastern Washington
Score 1 1
Shots 21 18
Shots on Goal 10 3
Scoring Summary 34:59 Brittany Sparks 89:18 Toni Carnovale
Sunday
Portland State Montana
Score 1 0
Shots 17 12
Shots on Goal 9 5
Scoring Summary 17:56 Frankie Ross