Complete match notes (PDF)

PORTLAND, Ore. — The Portland State women's soccer team has the opportunity to close out its non-conference schedule on a roll, after breaking through for its first win of the season last Sunday. The Vikings close out their non-conference schedule against Colorado State and San Jose State Friday and Sunday, before opening Big Sky schedule next weekend.
 
The Vikings (1-5-0) broke through against the Wolf Pack, beating Nevada 1-0 on the road off Morgan Matthews' 67th-minute goal. The win snapped a 13-match road losing streak for the Vikings, as the Vikings hadn't won on the road since a 1-0 win over North Dakota on Oct. 19, 2014.
 
The win continued a steady rise for the young Vikings, which started in the team's last home match, a 4-3 loss to Fresno State on Sept. 2. The Vikings led for all but the final minute of that match, while its offense broke through with three goals, two by sophomore midfielder/forward Krystal de Ramos.
 
The Vikings then mounted a comeback in their next match, coming back from a 3-0 deficit to make it a game again at 3-2, before eventually falling, 5-2. Portland State also held UC Davis to 11 shots last Friday, a season low for a Viking opponent this season.
 
Portland State's offense has also shown signs of life in their recent run, as the team scored multiple goals in back-to-back matches for the first time since the end of the 2014 season with their performances against Fresno State and Gonzaga. Additionally, the Vikings have totaled seven shots or more in three of their last four matches, after only surpassing five shots in one of their first four matches.
 
The Vikings will hope to keep things going against Colorado State on Friday, a team that the Vikings beat 3-0 on the road two seasons ago. The Rams are still a young program – their first year was 2013 – and have never won more than four matches through their first three full seasons of existence.
 
The Rams have already won two matches this season, however, and will be coming off a rare bye week when they face the Vikings, as they last played on Sept. 4 – a 3-0 loss to Northwestern in Illinois.
 
The Vikings will then close their non-conference schedule with a challenging match at San Jose State on Sunday. The Spartans placed second in the Mountain West Conference last season with an 8-3-0 conference mark, and return four of their five top goal scorers from 2015.
 
Like the Rams, the Vikings also played the Spartans in 2014, when San Jose State beat the Vikings 1-0 at Hillsboro Stadium on an 86th-minute goal. That match came on the heels of the Vikings' 1-0 win over in-state rival Oregon, and put a damper on the good feeling following the win over the Ducks.
 
The Vikings will get a chance for revenge Sunday, but not before they play their final non-conference home match against the Rams on Friday.
 
The Vikings and Rams will kick off at 1 p.m. (PT) at Hillsboro Stadium Friday. The Vikings and Spartans, meanwhile, kick off at 12 p.m. (PT) at Spartan Soccer Field in San Jose, Calif.
 
MATCH INFO:
Sept. 16, 2016 – 1 p.m. – vs. Colorado State – Hillsboro, Ore. (Hillsboro Stadium)
Sept. 18, 2016 – 12 p.m. – at San Jose State – San Jose, Calif. (Spartan Soccer Field)
 
LIVE VIDEO:
A live video stream will be available for both matches this weekend. Fans can access the streams via the women's soccer schedule page on GoViks.com.
 
LIVE STATS:
Live stats will be available for both matches this weekend. Fans can access live stats via the women's soccer schedule page on GoViks.com.
 
SCOUTING COLORADO STATE:
• The Colorado State Rams (2-4-0) will be coming off a bye week when they face the Vikings, as they last played on Sept. 4, a 3-0 loss to Northwestern in Illinois. The Rams have started the season well with wins over Denver (2-0) and SIU Edwardsville (2-1), as well as close losses to Colorado (1-2) and Northern Colorado (0-1).
• The Rams' win over Denver came in their season opener, and snapped a 10-match losing streak to end the Rams' 2015 season.
• The Rams finished 3-15-2 overall in 2015, and 0-10-1 in Mountain West Conference play.
• The Rams are in just their fourth season of existence, after playing their first varsity year in 2013. The Rams' best season came in 2014, when the team went 4-15-0 overall and 2-9-0 in the Mountain West.
• The Rams started this season strong defensively, as they allowed just four goals over their first four matches of the season. The Rams allowed seven goals in their last two matches, however, which were the team's first two matches outside of the state of Colorado.
• Offensively, the Rams have scored six goals over their first six matches of the season, with five different players accounting for those six goals. Kaija Ornes leads the team with two goals scored, including the game-winner in the Rams' season-opening win over Denver.
• Five of the Rams' six goals this season have been unassisted.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS COLORADO STATE:
The Vikings beat the Rams in their lone previous match against each other, a 3-0 win on the road in 2014.
 
SCOUTING SAN JOSE STATE:
• The San Jose State Spartans (2-2-2) have shared some common opponents with Portland State this season in UC Davis (exhibition) and CSUN, as well as a match against Portland State's Big Sky rival, Sacramento State. The Spartans beat UC Davis, 2-1, on the road in an exhibition to start the season, and drew against CSUN, 0-0, in their last match. The Spartans also beat the Hornets 1-0 on a golden goal in the 105th minute.
• The Spartans return seven starters and 16 letterwinners from their 2015 team that went 10-8-4 overall and 8-3-0 in Mountain West play. Head coach Lauren Hanson was also named the 2015 Mountain West Conference Coach of the Year.
• The Spartans return four of their top five goal scorers from last season, including their top two in Darriell Franklin and Dorthe Hoppius, who combined for 17 of the team's 30 goals last season. Franklin led the Spartans with nine goals, while Hoppius ranked right behind her with eight goals. Those two also combined to score eight of the team's 10 game-winning goals in 2015, with Franklin accounting for five and Hoppius accounting for three.
• The Spartans lost their starting goalkeeper from last season in Zoe Makrigiannis, who ranked third in the Mountain West with a 0.86 goals-against average last season.
• Paige Simoneau started a few matches for the Spartans in 2015, however, and has started five of the team's six matches so far this season. Simoneau has a 0.52 goals-against average so far this season, and a .812 save percentage. As a team, the Spartans have only allowed three goals this season, two of which came in a 2-1, double-overtime loss to UC Irvine.
• Offensively, the Spartans have only scored three goals this season, and no individual player has scored more than one. Hoppius leads the team with three points on one goal and one assist, and also leads the team in shots (23) and shots on goal (8).
• San Jose State will play another Big Sky school in Montana at home the Friday before they play the Vikings.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VERUS SAN JOSE STATE:
The Vikings are 0-4-0 all-time against San Jose State going into their match against the Spartans Sunday. The Vikings last played the Spartans in 2014, when the Spartans beat the Vikings 1-0 at Hillsboro Stadium. The Vikings last played the Spartans in San Jose in 2011, when the Spartans again won by a 1-0 score.
 
LAST TIME OUT:
The Vikings broke through for their first win of the season last Sunday, as they beat Nevada 1-0 behind a 67th-minute goal by Morgan Matthews. The win marked the first road win for the Vikings since a 1-0 win over North Dakota on Oct. 19, 2014, snapping a 13-match road losing streak. Additionally, the Vikings snapped a two-match winning streak for the Wolf Pack, who were coming off a 2-0 road win over the Vikings' Big Sky rival, Sacramento State, on Friday. Matthews' game-winner came while putting high pressure on the Wolf Pack's back line, as she went in for a challenge on a Nevada defender and ricocheted the ball up over the Wolf Pack goalkeeper's head and into the net from 30 yards out. The Vikings also played a close match against UC Davis the Friday before their match against Nevada, but fell 3-0. The Vikings held UC Davis to just 11 shots in the match, the lowest total by a Viking opponent this season.
 
UPCOMING:
The Vikings open Big Sky play next weekend, as they kick things off with the grueling road trip to Northern Arizona and Southern Utah. The Vikings will play both matches within just over 36 hours of each other, and both matches will be played at above 5,000 feet of elevation. The Vikings play Northern Arizona at over 7,000 feet of elevation at 7 p.m. (PT) Friday, and then turn around and play Southern Utah at 1 p.m. (MT) Sunday.
 
FAINGOLD RECORDS FIRST SHUTOUT:
Redshirt sophomore goalkeeper Abbie Faingold recorded her first career shutout in the Vikings' 1-0 win over Nevada last Sunday, and made a career-high six saves to earn it. Faingold started the year splitting time with redshirt freshman Ashton Blanskma, but has played all 90 minutes of the Vikings' last two matches after Blanksma left the Vikings' match against Gonzaga on Sept. 4 with an injury. Neither Blanksma nor Faingold had started a match before the season, and only Faingold had ever played for the Vikings, after she played the last 27:07 of the team's match against Weber State last season.
 
IRON WOMAN:
Trains should run their schedules off the Vikings' Kristin Moyer because she's just that reliable on the Vikings' back line. The redshirt junior defender has not missed a minute of action in four of the Vikings' six matches so far this season, and has only missed playing time in seven matches during her entire Portland State career. Additionally, Moyer has started all 43 matches of her career, giving her a chance to break the school records for career starts and minutes played if she stays healthy over her final two seasons of eligibility. Moyer has a better chance to break the school record in minutes played if she stays healthy, as her 3,812 career minutes played rank more than halfway to Juli Edwards' current record of 6,224, with Moyer just a little bit into her junior campaign with the Vikings. To break the record for career starts, meanwhile, Moyer would likely need the Vikings to make the Big Sky tournament during both her junior and senior seasons, or make an extended postseason run in one or the other. If she starts every match this season, Moyer will finish the year with 55 career starts, 19 behind the current record shared by Nathalie Wollman and Dolly Enneking at 74. The Vikings will play 18 matches this season, just as they did last season, however, which is the reason Moyer will likely need a postseason run to break the record for career starts.
 
MATTHEWS EMERGING AS SCORING THREAT:
With her game-winning goal against Nevada last Sunday, sophomore Morgan Matthews has now scored four goals in her young Portland State career. Matthews has scored her four goals in just 23 career matches, giving her a goal every 5.75 matches, by far the best scoring rate of any player on the team. By comparison, senior Aurora Bodenhamer – the active career leader in goals scored for the Vikings – averages a goal every 7.5 matches with eight goals in 60 career matches played. Additionally, Matthews scored both her goals as a freshman in the last six matches of the season, meaning her four career goals have all come in her last 12 matches for the Vikings, going back to last season.
 
TOUGH ROAD SCHEDULE:
The Vikings face a tough road schedule in 2016, as they play four of their five Big Sky road matches at 4,000 feet of elevation or above. The Vikings will open Big Sky play on their toughest road trip of the season, playing at Northern Arizona (7,000 feet above sea level) and Southern Utah (5,000 fee above sea level) within 36 hours. The Vikings will also travel more than 3,500 miles as they play at Northern Colorado and North Dakota on Oct. 14 and 16, respectively.
 
BY THE HAMMER OF BODEN:
Senior midfielder/forward Aurora Bodenhamer scored her first goal of the season in the Vikings' match against Gonzaga, opening her 2016 bank account after leading the team with five goals last season. Bodenhamer now has scored eight goals in her Portland State career, ranking her one goal from tying Juli Edwards (2004-07), Megan Plinski (2002-05), Kala Renard (2008-11) and Kayla Henningsen (2011-14) for ninth all-time at Portland State. Additionally, Bodenhamer's five goals last season all came in Big Sky play, and ranked one off the single-season record for conference goals by a Viking. Bodenhamer scored two goals in two different matches last season, including both goals in the Vikings' 2-1, overtime win over Southern Utah. Bodenhamer was named an All-Big Sky honorable mention after the season, the first all-conference honor of her career.
 
DE RAMOS SPENDS TIME WITH THE PHILIPPINES NATIONAL TEAM:
Sophomore midfielder/forward Krystal de Ramos played with the Philippines National Team at the AFF Women's Championship over the summer. De Ramos earned her first cap on July 26, when she was inserted into the starting XI for the team's match against Thailand. De Ramos also started in the Philippines' 2-0 win over Singapore on July 30.
 
YOUTH MOVEMENT:
The Vikings brought in 10 true freshmen during the offseason, and added a transfer from South Carolina in sophomore forward/midfielder Jacky Huchler. The Vikings will rely on their young players frequently during the season, as freshmen or sophomores make up 18 of the team's 26-player roster. Additionally, all four of the Vikings' goalkeepers are freshmen or sophomores, and none of them had started a match for the Vikings before the season. Redshirt sophomore Abbie Faingold was the only goalkeeper to have seen action for the Vikings before this season, as she made her Portland State debut last season while playing the final 27:07 in the Vikings' match at Weber State.
 
2015 SEASON RECAP:
Injuries and inexperience led the Vikings to a disappointing 2015 campaign that saw their seven-year streak of making the Big Sky tournament snapped. The Vikings finished the season 5-13-0 overall and 3-7-0 in Big Sky play. Goal scoring was an issue all season, as the Vikings scored only 13 goals, the lowest total of any season under head coach Laura Schott. The Vikings also only shut out two opponents during the season, and had the highest goals-against average (1.65) of any Viking team under Schott.