FULL MATCH GAME NOTES
LIVE STATS

MATCH PARTICULARS 
Portland State will head out on its second Big Sky road trip when it travels to play Northern Arizona and Southern Utah on Friday and Sunday. Match times are 6 p.m. PT and 9 a.m. PT, respectively.

FOLLOW ALONG
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SCOUTING THE LUMBERJACKS
Northern Arizona enters the weekend 4-6-2 and 2-1-0 in the conference after a weekend split with Weber State and Idaho State. The Lumberjacks Cierra Gamble scored in the 35th minute to defeat the Wildcats 1-0. Sunday was a different story as NAU scored first but allowed two goals in the 31st and 34th minutes as the Bengals upended the Lumberjacks, 2-1.

NAU is paced on offense by Demi Schmieder as she leads in points with six (1g, 4a). Haley Wingender is second behind Schmieder with five points (2g, 1a). Lauren Wilson and Natalie Gilbertson have split time in net this year for the Lumberjacks this season. Weaver holds an edge in minutes played as she has seen action in 627:51 and holds a 2-2-2- record overall. She also maintains a 1.15 goals against average and a .843 save percentage. Gilbertson has also seen time playing in 429:09, tallying a 2-4-0 mark with a 2.01 goals against average and a .766 save percentage. 

SCOUTING THE THUNDERBIRDS
Southern Utah is having a tough go of it in the Big Sky since joining this season, entering the weekend with an 0-3-0 conference record and 1-7-1 overall mark. The Thunderbirds fell last weekend to both Idaho State, and Weber State, 1-2 and 0-1, respectively. 

Stacey Brinkman paces Southern Utah in points with four, (2g, 0a) while Savannah Spere and Madison Wood are second on the scoring list with three points apiece (1g, 1a). Charly Booth has played a majority of time in net for the Thunderbirds this season as she has a  1-6-0 record overall. Booth also maintains a 1.62 goals against average and a .789 save percentage. 

HISTORY LESSON
The Viks have struggled with Northern Arizona in the program history as the Lumberjacks hold a 10-4-3 advantage over PSU. To illustrate Portland State's struggles, the Viks haven't beaten the Lumberjacks since 2006. In that time the Viks are 0-4-3 with the last meeting coming in 2011, ending in a 1-1 tie. This will be the second time that the Viks willl face Southern Utah, with the first coming back in 2002, as PSU defeated the T-Birds, 7-0. 

LAST TIME OUT
PSU is coming off a weekend-sweep in its first Big Sky homestand of the year defeating defending conference champion Montana, 2-0 and Dam Cup rival, Eastern Washington, 4-0. In the team's first match Daniela Solis proved to be the offensive catalyst scoring in the first half off a nice pass from Kayla Henningsen and then firing a shot, which deflected off a defender and into the net giving the Viks a 2-0 victory. The Offense continued its furious pace against Eastern Washington as Amanda Dutra led the charge, tallying a first half marker and following that up with a goal early in the second stanza. Megan Martin kept the scoring going in the middle of the second half, finding a loose ball in the box and freshman Lynsey Gaines capped off the scoring-spree connecting for her first goal of her collegiate career. 

THEY'RE HONORED
Portland State nearly swept the Big Sky player of the week awards this past weekend after its two wins against Montana and Eastern Washington. Sophomore Daniela Solis tallied four points through two games, scoring one goal and two assists as she was named Co-Offensive Player of the Week along with Idaho States Rachel Strawn. Solis now leads the team in points with eight, (3g, 2a). Sophomore Kayla Henningsen was named defensive player of the week after recording an assist against Montana and helping to shutout both opponents through the weekend. Montana only managed to fire nine shots on Friday and thanks to Henningsen's defensive prowess, the team held the Eagles to the lowest shot total recorded by an opponent this season with six.

THE BIG SKY'S THE LIMIT 
PSU so far in 2012 has continued its dominance of Big Sky opponents under the guidance of head coach Laura Schott. The fifth-year coach is now 20-6-6, all-time in conference matches and this campaign is no different. After dropping a tough road contest against Northern Colorado, 2-0, the Viks have gone on a three-match winning streak defeating North Dakota, Montana and Eastern Washington. The Viks offense has come alive in those three matches scoring nine of its 14 goals against conference foes. 

DUTRA LIKES TO HELP
Senior Amanda Dutra has shown in her PSU career that she enjoys helping her teammates as recently moved into a tie with Julie Forrest for the all-time lead in career assists with 13. Dutra recorded a helper on Kayla Henningsen's goal against North Dakota. Dutra will now look to try to surpass the 13 assist mark as she has six matches to do it. 

GETTING DEFENSIVE
While PSU offense sprung to life over the last three matches, you can't deny that the defense has had a huge part in the Viks' success this year. The back line entered the year as PSU's biggest question mark, has continued its stellar year statistically. The Viks are tied for first with Northern Colorado for the lowest goals allowed, with 12. The Viks also lead the Big Sky in goals against average with a 1.09 mark. Its goalkeeper Lainey Hulsizer has answered the questions as well, as she is ranked first amongst her conference peers with a goals against average of 0.98 and fifth in save percentage with .789 mark. After this past weekend she also now has three shutouts on the season. She has held opponents to less than two goals  seven times this year and hasn't allowed a team to record more than two markers in a contest. 

FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS
The Offense has come alive for PSU since starting up Big Sky play as the team has scored nine of its 14 markers during conference matches. This past weekend it appeared that the Portland State offense was firing on all cylinders as PSU tallied a season-high 11 points during the match. Amanda Dutra scored her first two goals of the season, while Megan Martin tallied a marker and impressive freshman Lynsey Gaines also tallied her first goal of her career. If the match against Eastern Washington is any indication, the Viking offense might be peaking at the right time.