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HILLSBORO, Ore. — Often described as the "young" Portland State women's soccer team, the Vikings etched out a new epithet for themselves Friday: resilient.
 
Coming off a pair of overtime losses last weekend and facing the league-leading Eastern Washington Eagles Friday, the Vikings could have hung their heads but instead responded with their best match of the season to date. The Vikings drew with the Eagles, 0-0, in a match where they outplayed the top team in the Big Sky Conference so far this season.
 
The Vikings outshot the Eagles 14-4 – including a 10-1 advantage after halftime – and created the better scoring chances throughout the match.
 
"It was an exciting game. We created a lot of opportunities but it was one of those games where the ball just doesn't find the net," PSU head coach Laura Schott said after the match. "It was fantastic to see our group get the shutout, especially given Eastern Washington's performance this year and their dynamic attack. We played very well today."
 
Eastern Washington came into the match as the top offense in the Big Sky this season, and by some margin. The Eagles came in with a league-leading 22 goals scored through their first 10 matches of the season – seven more than any other Big Sky team has scored this season.
 
Additionally, the Eagles featured two of the best offensive players in the conference in Chloe Williams – the 2015 Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year – and Aime Inthoulay, who came into the match leading the Big Sky in goals and assists, respectively.
 
Williams came into the match with seven goals scored during the season, but was a non-factor in the match thanks to a stout PSU defense that held her without a shot.
 
The Vikings held the Eagles to their lowest shot total as a team, as the Eagles only fired off four shots, four fewer than their previous low this season of eight. Additionally, the Eagles had only been shut out once this season, and were only shut out once by a conference opponent last season.
 
The Vikings were particularly dominant in the second half and beyond when they took full control of the run of play and held the Eagles to a single shot.
 
The Vikings had their most dangerous scoring chances come in that run after halftime, with the first golden scoring chance coming in the 59th minute on a corner kick from freshman Liv Jillings. Junior Katie Forsee got on the end of Jillings' corner kick after an initial deflection and sent in a quick header that caught the Eagles' goalkeeper out of position but got cleared off the line by an Eagle defender. Sophomore Krystal de Ramos followed with another shot right afterwards, but couldn't get full contact on it and it spun out wide right.
 
De Ramos had another chance less than a minute later when redshirt junior Breanne Chilton-Eddy played her on with a quick pass up the right side of the field. De Ramos beat two Eastern Washington defenders to Chilton-Eddy's ball and sent in a shot that looked like it had a chance to duck inside the far post but instead sailed just wide.
 
De Ramos threatened again in the 87th minute with what likely was the Vikings' best chance of the day, as redshirt junior Kristin Moyer fed her a perfect ball up from midfield that found her running alone just outside the box. De Ramos took a heavy touch after fielding the pass, however, which allowed the Eagles' goalkeeper to come out and snag the ball from her.
 
Moyer and De Ramos nearly connected again in the 102nd minute, when a free kick from Moyer got flicked around before finding De Ramos in the box. De Ramos fired a quick shot on goal, but it went right to the Eastern Washington goalkeeper.
 
The Vikings had one final chance with less than 20 seconds left in the second overtime period, when Forsee chased down a ball at midfield that junior Rachel Michieli and Chilton-Eddy both flicked on to the feet of a charging Aurora Bodenhamer. The Eastern Washington goalkeeper had come out on the play, though, and smothered Bodenhamer's last-ditch shot to preserve the draw.
 
The Vikings will hope to produce the same quality of play in their next match, as Montana comes to Hillsboro Stadium Sunday. The Vikings and Grizzlies will kick off at 1 p.m. (PT).
 
Match Notes: The Vikings move to 14-5-2 all-time against the Eagles after Friday's result…The Vikings have only lost one match in their last eight against the Eagles...Friday's draw was the first draw for the Vikings since Oct. 17, 2014, when the Vikings drew, 1-1, with Northern Colorado.