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MISSOULA, Mont. — Down 1-0 after giving up an early goal in the third straight match, the Portland State women's soccer team battled back to earn a 1-1 draw on the road against Montana Friday.
 
The Grizzlies (10-6-4, 5-2-3 Big Sky) earned the No. 2 seed in the Big Sky tournament with the draw, while the Vikings (8-9-1, 5-4-1 Big Sky) finished with the No. 4 seed. The Vikings will open the Big Sky tournament in the quarterfinals Wednesday against the No. 5 seed, which could still be one of our four different teams and won't be decided until later tonight.
 
Friday's draw against the Grizzlies gave the Vikings some momentum going into the Big Sky tournament, after they lost both matches last weekend on early goals. The Vikings found themselves down early again Friday, when Montana's Taryn Miller headed home a free kick from Maddy Emerick for the opening goal of the match in the eighth minute.
 
The Vikings responded in the 26th minute, however, when freshman Ellie Vasey scored her third goal of the season to level the match at 1-1. Sophomore Liv Jillings sent a ball up to senior Katie Forsee on the right side of the field to start the play, and Forsee crossed a ball into Krystal de Ramos in the center of the box. De Ramos attempted a quick shot that a Montana defender blocked, but the deflection fell right to Vasey, who placed her shot to the left of Montana goalkeeper Maddie Vincent for the goal.
 
The Viking defense took over from there, withstanding 17 shots from the Grizzlies after halftime to preserve the draw. Redshirt junior goalkeeper Abbie Faingold made five saves in the match, giving her sole possession of fifth all time at Portland State with 152 career saves.
 
Friday's match marks the third time this season the Vikings have come back to earn at least a point after giving up the first goal. The Vikings also came back to beat Idaho State and Sacramento State after giving up the first goal in both matches earlier this season.
 
The Vikings will need to draw on that fighting spirit again at the Big Sky tournament, where the Vikings are just 2-8-3 all time. The Vikings last made the Big Sky tournament in 2014, and lost to Northern Arizona in the semifinals as the No. 2 seed.
 
The Vikings will open the Big Sky tournament at 1 p.m. (PT) Wednesday against the still-to-be-determined fifth seed. If they win that match, the Vikings will face off against top-seeded Eastern Washington in the semifinals at 1 p.m. (PT) Friday.
 
Match Notes: The Vikings move to 12-11-3 all time against Montana with Friday's draw…Redshirt senior Kristin Moyer has now played 6,213 minutes in her Viking career, just 11 minutes shy of the all-time record Juli Edwards (2004-07) set at 6,224…Forsee tied the single-season record for shots on goal in the match, as she matched Katie Miyake's 2002 total of 39.