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OGDEN, Utah — The Portland State women's soccer team's road woes continued Sunday, as the Vikings fell 4-1 to Weber State as Weber State midfielder Chansi Crompton tied a Big Sky Conference record with four assists in the match against the Vikings.
 
The Vikings (4-10-0, 2-4-0 Big Sky) and Wildcats (7-7-1, 3-3-0 Big Sky) entered the match tied for sixth in the Big Sky standings with six points, but the Wildcats picked up the critical three points, sending the Vikings into a precarious position within the conference. With only four Big Sky matches remaining, the Vikings rank one point out of sixth in the conference, meaning the Vikings will need to string some positive results together to qualify for the six-team Big Sky tournament at the end of the season.
 
The Vikings got off to a strong start Sunday, but the Wildcats responded quickly and controlled possession over the majority of the match.
 
Junior midfielder/forward Aurora Bodenhamer put the Vikings up 1-0 temporarily as she converted a penalty kick just two minutes and three seconds into the match.
 
The Wildcats leveled the match in the 12th minute, however, as Crompton connected with Mackenzie Harrison for the first of her four assists Sunday.
 
Crompton and Harrison also connected for the Wildcats' second goal in the 31st minute, while Crompton found Stacy Bair for the Wildcats' third goal just over five minutes later in the 36th minute.
 
Those two goals put the Vikings in a major hole going into halftime, and the Wildcats stayed on the front foot in the second half and eventually stretched their lead to 4-1 when Crompton found Celeste Wheelwright with a cross into the box in the 72nd minute.
 
Crompton becomes only the third player in Big Sky history with four assists in a match, joining Annamarie Hofstetter of Idaho State and Portland State's own Jamie Harlor, who was the first player to do it in 1999.
 
The Vikings pushed for a second goal after Wheelwright's, but couldn't come up with one despite three shots on goal from senior midfielder/forward Cori Bianchini, redshirt senior goalkeeper Angela Haluska – who came out of goal and played in the field by the end of the match – and sophomore midfielder Katie Forsee.
 
Bodenhamer's goal was a bright spot in the match for the Vikings, as it gave the junior her fifth of the conference season, a total that ranks her second in the Big Sky this season behind Mexico National Team player Maria Sanchez of Idaho State. Additionally, Bodenhamer's five goals in 14 total matches gives her an average of 0.36 goals per match this season, an average that would rank as the ninth-best single-season average all-time at Portland State if the season ended today.
 
Bodenhamer will also enter the top 10 all-time for goals in a season with her next goal, while her goal Sunday was the earliest by a Viking since Kala Renard scored in the first 54 seconds of the Vikings' 1-1 tie with Northern Arizona on Oct. 16, 2011.
 
Bodenhamer and the Vikings will now hope to bounce back next weekend, as the Vikings host their final two matches of the season with North Dakota and Northern Colorado coming to town next Friday and Sunday. The Vikings have been a different team at home this season, as all four of the team's wins have come at Hillsboro Stadium, where the Vikings are 4-2-0 while outscoring their opponents 9-5.
 
Both North Dakota and Northern Colorado also currently rank above the Vikings in the Big Sky standings, meaning wins over either of them could greatly bolster the Vikings' chances at qualifying for the Big Sky tournament.
 
Match Notes: The Wildcats tied the all-time series between them and the Vikings with their win Sunday, as the series is now 9-9-4…The Wildcats also snapped an eight-match winless streak they had against the Vikings, winning their first match against Portland State since 2008…In addition to the single-match assist record, Crompton also broke the Weber State career record for assists in the match Sunday, and moved up to second all-time in career assists within the Big Sky Conference.