PORTLAND, Ore. - All is forgiven right now in Big Sky women's soccer. Non-conference records do not determine playoff seeding - only the seven matches in Big Sky Conference contests. The Vikings (4-7-1) will start their quest to defend their conference championship Friday against Eastern Washington and Sunday versus Montana at Hillsboro Stadium. Friday marks the inaugural match of “The Dam Cup” series with Eastern.

FOLLOW FROM HOME
For those who are unable to attend the weekend's matches, both of the Vikings contests can be followed via Live Stats. Visit GoViks.com to follow online.

VIKINGS AND THE EAGLES
Portland State Leads, 9-4-1
The Vikings entered Cheney last year with a 1-1 split in their Big Sky register and appeared to be heading into a 1-2 start as the Viks trailed the Eagles entering the final minute of the match. Head Coach Laura Schott moved a defender to the midfield to give PSU an extra attacker and the strategy worked as Toni Carnovale collected a rebounded shot and put it in the back of the net to clinch the Vikings trip to overtime. The two teams ended in a 1-1 draw and put the Vikings at 1-1-1 in the standings. Portland State's only loss at home against Eastern was in 2000, 3-2, the Vikings only winless season.

Below are the all-time series results.

9/28/1997      N1    W 1-0
9/27/1998      N2    W 4-0   
10/25/1998    H     W 1-0
9/10/1999      A      (ot) W 2-1
9/4/2000        H    L 2-3
10/28/2001    H    (ot) W 3-2
10/25/2002    A    W 1-0
11/2/2003      A    L 1-3
10/29/2004    H3    W 1-0
10/28/2005    A    L 1-2
10/13/2006    H    W 1-0
10/19/2007    A    L 1-2
10/19/2008    H    W 4-1
10/16/2009    A    T 1-1
1 - Oregon State Tournament
2 - Corvallis, OR
3 - Home at Nike World Campus

VIKINGS AND THE LADY GRIZ
Portland State Trails, 6-8-1
Portland State only needed one goal against the Lady Grizzlies to seal the deal in Missoula last year, after clawing out of Cheney with a 1-1 tie two days earlier. Frankie Ross fired a chip shot over the keepers head on a pass from Dolly Enneking to give the Viks a victory and keep them in the hunt for the Big Sky Championship. PSU has won six of their last seven meetings against the Lady Griz and last lost at home to them in 2006, 1-0.

All-time series results are listed below

10/21/1995    A    W 1-0
10/12/1996    H    L 0-3
10/26/1997    A    L 0-7
11/7/1997      A    L 0-4
10/23/1998    H    (ot) L 2-3
10/8/1999      A    L 1-4
9/2/2000        H    L 0-5
10/26/2001    A    L 0-3
10/27/2002    H    T 0-0
10/31/2003    A    (2ot) W 1-0
10/31/2004    H    W 3-2
10/30/2005    A    W 1-0
10/15/2006    H    L 0-1
10/21/2007    A    W 2-1
10/17/2008    H    W 2-1
10/18/2009    A    W 1-0

WEEKEND RECAP
Portland State entered the weekend with a three-match winless skid and extended it to five, the team's longest such streak since 2008.

The Vikings jumped ahead of the Wolverines, 1-0, in the 6th minute after UVU's Lauren Bluth tried to clear the ball on a header but instead put the ball in her own net.  In the 84th minute Utah Valley would even the score at 1-1. While the Vikings would flirt with a comeback in the first OT with a shot by Emily Rohde off the crossbar, it wasn't enough to lift PSU to victory and the match ended in a draw.

At SeattleU, the Vikings battled with the Redhawks in the first half and were stuck at a 0-0 stalemate, led by Rachel Jarvis' three saves in the opening stanza. SU would break the silence in the 59th with Kara Kuttler scoring her fourth goal of the season. PSU would go on to fall 2-0 to the 9-4-0 Redhawks

ABOUT EASTERN WASHINGTON
Last season, Eastern Washington began to write what resembled a Cinderella story in the Big Sky, tying with Portland State and defeating Sacramento State early in their register. The team finished 4-2-1 in the Big Sky and 7-9-3 overall.

So far in 2010, the Eagles are winless at 0-9-1 and have not tied since their season-opener  at Cal-State Bakersfield Aug. 27. EWU's top-scorer from a year ago, Britanny Sparks, has only scored one goal so far but has registered three assists. She finished second in scoring and goals in the Big Sky with 11 goals.

In their 10 contests this season, the Eagles have been outscored 27-9.
Whitney Brannan currently has seven goals for Eastern and is the team's leading-scorer. Sparks is second with a goal and three assists.

ABOUT MONTANA
Montana currently owns a 1-8-2 record overall in 2010, their only win coming against North Dakota, 1-0, on Sept. 19. The Lady Griz tied in their second match of the season at New Mexico State, 1-1, and had a second draw versus Boise State Sept. 17, 1-1. PSU lost to the Broncos Aug. 22, 2-1.

UM has been outscored 24-6 in their 11 contests and has been shutout six times, a number that includes its last two matches at Pacific (Calif.) and UC Davis.

Kaitlyn Heinsohn has three goals for the Lady Grizzlies and leads the team. Kendra McMillen and Julianna Jack have split time in net with McMillen posting a 1.15 goals against average, a save percentage of .833 and a record of 1-3-1, all team-bests.

10 YEARS AFTER
The Portland State Vikings are the defending champions of the Big Sky as they marched their way to a 4-1-2 record last season in conference and allowed a Big Sky low, five goals.

The Vikings will look to become the first team since Montana in 1999-2000 to win back-to-back Big Sky Regular Season Championships.

THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY
The Vikings crossed the halfway point of the season with their match at Idaho. Currently, the Viks are 4-7-1 after their 12 matches, but that doesn't spell disaster for the team.

Last year, Portland State reached its halfway mark after a match versus Oregon, a 2-0 loss in Eugene. At that point, the Viks were 4-5-1 but went on to finish atop the Big Sky with a 10-6-3 regular season record.

In 2004 when Portland State first staked claim to the Big Sky title, the team was 3-5-1 after nine matches in their 18 frames.

THE LADIES OF OCTOBER
In 2009, the Vikings went on a 6-2-1 terror, their best record in that month in program history. The record included a 4-1-2 mark in Big Sky play, to claim the conference crown and host the regular season championship.

Currently the Vikings are 0-1-1 in October.

In her two previous years as Head Coach, Laura Schott's squads have finished 10-3-4 in the month of October and outscored their opponents 24-12... Take that Reggie Jackson.

BIG SKY'S TOP
Portland State's Head Coach Laura Schott is the Big Sky's winningest coach over the last two seasons with an 8-2-4 record and a .714 winning percentage. Northern Arizona's Andre Luciano is second with an 8-4-2 record (.643 winning percentage).

THE 20 CLUB
This weekend, Portland State Head Coach Laura Schott will be in pursuit of her 20th win at the helm of the Vikings. By accomplishing the feat, she will become only the third coach in program history to reach the exclusive mark.

ROSS IS BOSS
With her goal and assist last Sept. 28, senior Frankie Ross moved up the school's all-time points and assists list. She started the season tied for 10th in both categories and is now sixth in both goals and points, and tied for fourth in assists.

Category    No.    Rank    Leader
Goals         10    6th        23
Points        30    6th        57
Assists      10    t-4th     13

SPREADING THE WEALTH
In the Vikings 12 games this season, nine different players have scored goals for PSU, while 15 different players have registered points (either a goal, an assist or both) on the 28 women roster.

Kala Renard, Frankie Ross andMelissa Trammell are tied for the team lead in goals with three each, while Ross also leads the team with three assists. Ross was second-team All-Big Sky selection a year ago and the Golden Boot Award winner in 2008.

GOLDEN SUPREMACY
Portland State has had a rich scoring history, as four Vikings have staked claim to the Big Sky's Golden Boot Award, the most in conference history.

For her conference leading 10 points (four goals, two assists), Dolly Enneking was named the Golden Boot Award winner in 2009.

She was the second consecutive Viking to win or share the coveted title. Listed on the next page are all Golden Boot winners and their goals, assists and points breakdown.

2009: Dolly Enneking - 4g, 2a - 10 points
2008: Frankie Ross - 3g, 2a - 8 points *
2004: Jamie Blakesley - 6g, 1a - 13 points
2002: Katie Miyake - 5g, 1a - 11 points $

* - Shared the award with three others.
$ - Shared the award with one other.

LET'S WIN “THE DAM CUP!”
The Portland State Vikings and Eastern Washington Eagles will begin a five sport rivalry cup called The Dam Cup in 2010-11. The Dam Cup will celebrate the friendly rivalry between the states of Oregon and Washington within the Big Sky Conference. 

The so-named rivalry refers to the four dams linking Oregon and Washington that one passes on the 339-mile drive from the Portland State campus to the Eastern Washington campus. Located along the Columbia River, they are Bonneville Dam, The Dalles Dam, The John Day Dam and the McNary Dam.

The five sports competing for the cup are football, women's soccer, women's volleyball, women's basketball and men's basketball.  The purpose of the Dam Cup is to create a rivalry between Portland State University and Eastern Washington University and provide a sense of pride between alumni in the Portland and Spokane areas. Other goals include increasing attendance at events between both schools and building school spirit among each institutions' student body.

The winner of the Dam Cup will possess The Dam Trophy acknowledging the achievement for the following year.

“It has always been enjoyable when we beat Eastern Washington,” said Portland State Director of Athletics Torre Chisholm. “This should make it even better.”

The Dam Cup is based on a point system.  Each game played in the five sports between the two schools has a point value. Points are only rewarded for regular season contests. The annual football game is worth four points, the women's soccer match is worth one point, each women's volleyball match is worth two points for a total of four points possible, and each men's and women's basketball game is worth two points for a total of four points possible in each sport, The total points possible are 17 which means that to win the cup a school would need to win at least 9 points.

If scoring had taken place last year, PSU would have won, 10.5 to 6.5 (football-EWU (4); soccer-tie (0.5 each); men's basketball-PSU two wins (4); women's basketball-split (2 each); volleyball-PSU two wins (4).

The 2010-11 Dam Cup events take place on the following dates
Soccer - Oct. 8 @ PSU
Volleyball - Oct. 9 @ PSU; Nov. 6 @ EWU
Football - Oct. 30 @ PSU
Men's Basketball - Jan. 8 @ PSU; Jan. 27 @ EWU
Women' Basketball - Jan. 8 @ EWU; Jan. 27 @ PSU