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LOOKING AHEAD: The Portland State (6-7-2 overall, 2-1-2 Big Sky Conference) women's soccer team will host Weber State (5-9-1, 3-1-1) this Thursday, Oct. 20 at Hillsboro Stadium with kickoff slated for 11 a.m. PT. The Vikings will then head to Idaho State (4-10-1, 1-4-0) for their season finale on Sunday, Oct. 23. The Vikings and the Bengals square off at 12 p.m.

FOLLOW ALONG: Follow both matches online by clicking the live stats link on www.goviks.com.

SCOUTING WEBER STATE: Weber State comes into the weekend tied for first in the conference with a 3-1-1 conference record. Felicia Sortor leads the Wildcats with three goals on the season. Weber State has been outscored this season 16-to-10 with five of its 10 goals coming in conference play. Ryann Waldman has played the majority of minutes in goal this season, and every minute in conference play, and has surrendered 14 goals in over 1,100 minutes played this season. She has recorded three shutouts on the season.

SCOUTING IDAHO STATE:  The Bengals are 1-4-0 in conference play with their only conference win coming in a 2-1 win over Eastern Washington last weekend. Amanda Ellsworth leads the team, and is tied for second in the conference, with six goals on the season. Ashley Jones is second on the squad with four goals. Carly Hutchings-Maloney has tallied nearly 1,300 minutes in goals this season but and has allowed 33 goals.

LAST TIME OUT: The Vikings played Northern Arizona to a 1-1, double-overtime draw this past Sunday on Senior Day. The Vikings took a 1-0 lead in the first minute of the match with senior Kala Renard's goal just 54 seconds into the match. Northern Arizona evened the game at 1-1 in the 20th minute. The Vikings outshot the Lumberjacks by a 23-to-4 margin and forced 10 corner kicks but could not get a second goal to take the match.

FINAL WEEKEND PUSH: The Vikings are looking to finish strong this weekend and make a push to host the Big Sky Conference tournament. The Vikings need to win both matches this weekend and then get some help form Northern Colorado, who the Vikings need to lose one match this weekend, to have a chance at hosting the tournament.

MARTIN'S HAT-TRICK: With her hat-trick of goals against Sacramento State (9/30), junior Megan Martin became the seventh player in Portland State history to score three goals in a single match. The last Viking to record the feat was Jamie Blakesley at UC Riverside on Sept. 21, 2003.

PLAYERS OF THE WEEK: Forward Megan Martin's first career hat-trick and keeper Lainey Hulsizer's career-high 14 saves earned them Big Sky Conference Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week honors respectively for matches played from Sept. 26 - Oct. 2.

Junior transfer goalkeeper Melissa Ferguson was named the Big Sky Conference Defensive Player of the Week for the week of Aug. 29 through Sept. 4. She went a perfect 2-0 at the Wolf Pack Invitational posting shutout wins against Nevada and Detroit Mercy. Ferguson tallied eight saves over the weekend.

Amanda Dutra and Esty Geiger were named the Big Sky Conference Offensive and Defensive Players of the Week respectively for the week of Aug. 22-28.  It was the second honor for Dutra and the first for Geiger. Dutra recorded a goal and an assist over the weekend while Geiger played all 107-plus minutes and recorded an assist.

The Vikings have racked up a total of five weekly honors this season.

TWIN KILLING:  The match at Nevada on Sept. 2 marked the first time junior twins Carlie and Megan Martin have scored goals in the same game playing for Portland State. It is only the second time in their soccer careers that they have scored in the same game, the only other time was in high school playing for Oregon City. Megan Martin scored first with Carlie Martin scoring exactly two minutes and 20 seconds later.

SCHOTTING THE BREEZE: Vikings head coach Laura Schott became the all-time leader in career coaching wins at Portland State with her 30th career win at Eastern Washington. She passed Bernie Fagan (1993-96) and Tara Erickson (2001-2004) who both won 29 matches in their time at Portland State.

INJURY BUG: Sophomore Eryn Brown will be out the rest of the year after suffering a season-ending knee injury in an exhibition game against Miami (Fla.) on Aug. 14. Also out of for the season is senior midfielder Amanda Howie who suffered a foot injury.

BIG SKY SUPERIORITY: The Vikings have been among the Big Sky Conference's elite the last three years, winning the regular season in 2009 and finishing as the runner-up in both 2008 and 2010.

KEEPING IT LOCAL ON THE PARK BLOCKS: Since taking over in 2008, Schott has increased the number of locals on the Vikings squad. As the number of Oregonians increases, so have the number of wins.

In 2008 there were four Oregonians on the squad that ended the season 5-11-4. In 2009 the win total increased to 10 wins with 10 Oregonians on the team. In 2010 the number of Oregonians increased to 11 and the team won nine games and a school best five games in conference play.

DOUBLE-TROUBLE: Portland State has two sets of twins on the 2011 roster in juniors Carlie and Megan Martin and freshman Kayla and Kelsey Henningsen.

PRESEASON COACHES' POLL: The Vikings were selected fourth in the 2011 Big Sky coaches' poll. Exceeding the expectations has been the Portland State motto under head coach Laura Schott. Portland State was picked to finish fifth in 2008 and 2009, but went on to finish second and first, respectively. The Vikings were then picked third in last year's preseason poll but went on to take second in the conference.

THE SHORTEST IN YEARS: Though Portland State has played two exhibitions in August, one against Concordia (Ore.) Aug. 10 and another against Miami (Fla.) Aug. 14 at Hillsboro Stadium, the Vikings will only play 17 regular-season games, the team's shortest regular-season schedule since 1995.

Portland State was in its last year as a Division II Independent and would go on to finish 9-5-2, before joining the Big Sky the following year. Millette DeSpain led the team with 12 goals and nine assists that year.

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Once again, Vikings call Hillsboro Stadium home after playing seven-of-eight home contests at the facility last season. In 2011, Portland State will have seven regular season contests and one preseason match at the stadium.

THE PARK BLOCKS WORLD CUP CREDIBILITY: Freshman Daniela Solis, a three-time all-state selection at Sherwood High School, represented Mexico at the U17 Girls World Cup in 2010, hosted by Trinidad and Tobago. Solis made three appearances, two starts, and tallied the game-winning goal against the Republic of South Africa.

NEXT UP: This weekend marks the final weekend of the regular season for the Vikings. The Vikings will host their annual Alumni Game on Sunday, Oct. 30 at 1 p.m. at Hillsboro Stadium.