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HILLSBORO, Ore. — Magic is real.
Breanne Chilton-Eddy proved that Sunday, as she scored a golden goal on her own Senior Day to lift the Portland State women's soccer team to its first comeback win in three years with a 2-1 overtime win over Weber State that keeps the Vikings' hopes alive of making it to the Big Sky tournament at the end of the season.
The Vikings (6-10-1, 4-4-1 Big Sky) gave up the first goal of the match to Weber State (5-10-2, 3-6-1 Big Sky) in the seventh minute, but drew level with a goal from
Krystal de Ramos in the 30th minute, and then won it on Chilton-Eddy's golden goal in the fourth minute of overtime.
The Vikings hadn't come back to win a match after giving up the first goal since Oct. 13, 2013, when the Vikings beat Northern Arizona 2-1 – also on a golden goal, and also on Senior Day.
"What a tremendous comeback win today for the team," PSU head coach Laura Schott said after the match. Weber State was very dangerous and scored a good goal early. I was proud to see our fight in coming back from the early deficit."
The Vikings had been on the verge of several comebacks earlier in the season, but had not been able to get over the hump until Sunday. The Vikings came back to tie Northern Arizona and Southern Utah on the first weekend of Big Sky play, but lost both of those matches in overtime.
The Vikings had lost three overtime matches overall this season going into Sunday, but Chilton-Eddy reversed the Vikings' overtime mojo with her golden goal.
Portland State now stands tied for sixth in the Big Sky standings after Sunday, equal to Northern Colorado, which the Vikings beat last weekend. As a result, the Vikings would hold the tiebreaker over the Bears for a potential spot in the Big Sky tournament field, meaning the Vikings can clinch a spot in the tournament with a win over Sacramento State on Friday.
It looked for a while like the Vikings would have to settle for a draw or worse Sunday, as Weber State went up early on Lana Willard's goal in the seventh minute. Willard scored the goal off a rebound, as Viking goalkeeper
Abbie Faingold saved an initial shot from Weber State leading scorer Morgan Quarnberg. Faingold got a touch on Quarnberg's shot to send it off the crossbar, but Willard tracked the rebound and fired it in on a header at the back post.
The goal put the Vikings in their first deficit since a 2-1 loss to Idaho two weekends ago on Oct. 9. The Vikings responded well to the goal, however, and controlled the run of play in the time immediately following Weber State's goal.
The Vikings' strong response paid off in the 30th minute, when de Ramos took advantage of a goalkeeper mistake to level the match with her fourth goal of the season.
De Ramos had been putting high pressure on the Wildcats' back line since the start of the game, and was challenging again in the 30th minute when Weber State goalkeeper Sydnie Brough had a ball slip out of her hands. De Ramos took advantage of the mistake and slotted in the easy goal.
The next 60 minutes of regulation after De Ramos' goal, however, was a frustrating period for the Vikings, who out-shot the Wildcats 16-6 in regulation but still couldn't find a go-ahead goal.
The Vikings had several chances come right at the end of regulation, starting with a tough shot from Chilton-Eddy that Brough couldn't corral in the 89th minute. Brough still saved Chilton-Eddy's shot, but the rebound fell to senior
Aurora Bodenhamer's feet, and Bodenhamer fired another shot that Brough again saved but couldn't control. Freshman
Tamera Mikamura followed with her own rebound shot that Weber State's Nicolle Allen saved with a header that went over the crossbar.
Redshirt junior
Kristin Moyer sent in the ensuing corner with a minute left in regulation, finding junior
Katie Forsee for a header, but another Weber State defender cleared it off the line.
All that frustration went away with Chilton-Eddy's goal in overtime, however, which easily stands as the goal of the year for the Vikings. De Ramos sent Chilton-Eddy a short pass up from the right flank on the play, and Chilton-Eddy took one touch to control before launching a shot up from outside the right corner of the 18-yard box. Chilton-Eddy's shot curled just under the crossbar and found the left-side netting for the game-winning goal.
The game-winner marked the first game-winning goal of Chilton-Eddy's career, and her third career goal as a Viking.
Chilton-Eddy's goal also assured that the Vikings will have plenty to play for on Friday, when they can clinch a spot in the Big Sky tournament with a win over Sacramento State. The Vikings and Hornets will kick off at 1 p.m. (PT) Friday at Hillsboro Stadium.
Match Notes: The Vikings take the lead in the all-time series between them and Weber State with their win Sunday, as they now lead the series 10-9-4…The Vikings have now won three matches in a row for the first time since Oct. 19-31, 2014, when the Vikings finished the regular-season with three straight wins…De Ramos' goal gives the Vikings three players with at least four goals this season, the first time the Vikings have had that since 2013…The Vikings also extended a school record by playing in their fifth overtime match of the Big Sky season Sunday.