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HILLSBORO, Ore. — The Portland State women's soccer team played Southern Utah to a scoreless draw Friday at Hillsboro Stadium, giving the team its fourth straight shutout.
 
Friday's shutout kept the Vikings undefeated at 4-0-1 in the Big Sky (7-4-2 overall) with four matches to go in the conference schedule. Southern Utah, meanwhile, moved to 4-8-1 overall and 1-2-1 in the Big Sky with the draw.
 
The Vikings have now not allowed a goal in their last 424 minutes of play. Additionally, the Vikings' have only allowed one goal in their last seven matches, with the lone goal in that time coming on a penalty kick against Northern Colorado. Overall, the Vikings have a 0.19 goals-against average since Aug. 31.
 
Southern Utah threatened to end the Vikings' streak a couple times Friday, but the Viking defense held firm each time.
 
The Thunderbirds forced the PSU defense into making a play in the 67th minute, when a ball played into the box brought PSU goalkeeper Caitlin Plese off her line on a 50-50 ball. Southern Utah forward Sydney Cook was beating Plese to the ball, when PSU defender Kayla Henningsen stepped in to clear the ball out of trouble.
 
The Thunderbirds then came back to threaten again in the first overtime period, when a couple of fouls just outside PSU's penalty box gave them set pieces deep in their attacking half. Nothing came of either set piece, however, and the PSU defense preserved the shutout.
 
The PSU offense, meanwhile, had its own opportunities to score, including two chances within the final two minutes of the second overtime period.
 
Sophomore midfielder Cori Bianchini had a scoring opportunity for the Viks with just over a minute left in the match, as junior forward Eryn Brown sent a cross into the box from the right wing. Freshman midfielder Breanne Chilton-Eddy dummied Brown's pass on the near post, letting the ball fall to Bianchini in front of the goal, where she chipped a shot on frame from six yards out. Bianchini's shot went straight to Southern Utah goalkeeper Elyssa Hashimoto, however, and Hashimoto made one of her five saves on the day to prevent the goal.
 
Freshman midfielder Bianca Munoz had her own scoring opportunity less than a minute earlier, when sophomore midfielder Emma Cooney played a perfectly timed ball to her just outside the top of the box. Cooney's pass left Munoz with a straight path to goal, but a Southern Utah defender recovered just as Munoz was taking her shot to force it wide.
 
PSU's aggressive end to the match came after a long period of seesawing between the teams as neither team dominated possession.
 
"Unfortunately we just didn't play well today until it was late in the game," PSU head coach Laura Schott said. "We need to regroup and focus for the entire game, not just the final 20 minutes."
 
The Vikings return to action Sunday, Oct. 13, with a match against Northern Arizona at 1 p.m. (PT) at Hillsboro Stadium. The Vikings will honor Melissa Bishop, Brown, Lexi Greenwood, Ariel Snyder and Kajsa Sporseen before the match as part of Senior Day festivities.
 
Match Notes: The Vikings are now 2-0-1 against Southern Utah in the all-time series…Friday's match was just the second time the schools have met as conference rivals, as Southern Utah is only in its second year of full membership in the Big Sky Conference…Chilton-Eddy had not played a match this season before starting and playing every minute of both overtime periods.