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OREM, Utah — Less than 30 seconds from shutting out a potent Utah Valley attack in regulation, the Wolverines' Kali Stubbs scored with 28 seconds left on the clock, handing the Portland State women's soccer team a heartbreaking 1-0 loss as the Vikings closed out their non-conference schedule Sunday at Clyde Field.
 
Stubbs turned with a Portland State defender on her back on the play and bent a ball to an open part of the net from 22 yards out.
 
The late goal put a sour end on what had been a promising showing by the Vikings (2-6-0) to that point in the match. The Wolverines (5-4-0) had been a dominant offensive team coming into the weekend, as they ranked 25th in the NCAA with an average of 2.57 goals per match. Additionally, the Wolverines blew out a pair of Big Sky teams earlier in the season, outscoring Montana and Idaho State – both Big Sky tournament teams last season – by a combined score of 11-3.
 
The Wolverines had been a dominant team at home, too, as they stood 4-0-0 while outscoring opponents 14-3 at home going into Sunday.
 
"We played very well for stretches and created good attacking chances," PSU head coach Laura Schott said after the match. "Utah Valley is a tough place to play for a lot of reasons, but I thought we handled the adversity well."
 
Utah Valley had been pressing more in the second half against the Vikings, as they came out and outshot the Vikings 11-3 after halftime, and held a 6-1 advantage in corners.
 
Still, the Vikings stayed level with the Wolverines until Stubbs' late goal, and had several solid chances of their own. Six of the Vikings' seven shots in the match were on frame, and the only one that wasn't on frame was a 25th minute shot from junior midfielder Bianca Munoz that got blocked.
 
The Vikings attacked from all over the field against the Wolverines, too, as only freshman midfielder Rachel Ross had more than one shot in the match. Ross led the Vikings with two shots on goal against the Wolverines, while senior midfielder/forward Cori Bianchini, senior midfielder Emma Cooney, freshman midfielder/forward Krystal de Ramos and redshirt sophomore Breanne Chilton-Eddy all fired shots on frame for the Vikings.
 
Redshirt senior goalkeeper Angela Haluska, meanwhile, made five saves in the match, raising her season total to 54 already this season. Haluska now has 63 saves in her career at Portland State, one save short of tying Eryn Meyer (1999) for 10th all-time at Portland State.
 
Haluska and the Viking defense have also now held five of their last six opponents to one goal or less, and would have four shutouts in that stretch if not for two late goals in their opponents.
 
The Vikings will hope to continue that strong defensive trend as they open Big Sky play with Southern Utah and Northern Arizona coming to Hillsboro Stadium next weekend. The Vikings host Southern Utah Friday and Northern Arizona Sunday, with both matches kicking off at 1 p.m. (PT).
 
Match Notes: Sunday's loss for the Vikings levels the all-time series between Portland State and Utah Valley at 3-3-1…Sunday's loss for the Vikings also assures that still no team will have won two in a row in the series, after Portland State beat Utah Valley 1-0 to open the 2014 season.