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CHENEY, Wash. — The snow could not come fast enough for the Portland State women's soccer team.
 
The Vikings pulled a goal back on top-seeded Eastern Washington after it started to snow in their Big Sky semifinal match Friday, but couldn't find a second goal to equalize in the final 10 minutes and lost 2-1 to the Eagles on EWU Soccer Field.
 
It started to snow soon after Eastern Washington went up 2-0 in the 53rd minute, with 2-3 inches covering the field by the end of the match.
 
The snow helped spur the Vikings' attack, with freshman Teá Poore finding room for a shot outside the box that curled just inside the left far post for a goal in the 80th minute. The Vikings pushed for an equalizer after Poore's goal, but the Eagles held on to run out the clock.

"The girls fought harder than they have all season," head coach Katie Burton said after the match. "There was a lot of adversity and they never put their heads down. They stuck to our game plan, both offensively and defensively, regardless of the score. We were the better team on the day, and they all know that. What counts the most is they left everything on the field."
 
The Vikings (9-10-1) shut out the high-powered Eagles (15-5-1) in the run of play, but both of the Eagles' goals came off of corners.
 
The Eagles scored their first goal in the seventh minute, when senior forward Chloe Williams sent a laser of a corner to Jenny Chavez on the back post that Chavez hammered into the net with a header.
 
The Vikings responded well to the early goal for the Eagles, however, and created several good chances in the attacking third in the minutes afterwards.
 
Senior Katie Forsee earned a free kick just outside the box in the 10th minute, but her follow-up shot went right to EWU goalkeeper Emily Busselman for a save.
 
Freshmen Rilee Castilla and Ellie Vasey connected on another chance for the Vikings a few minutes later in the 14th minute. Castilla sent a long cross up to Vasey on the right post, freeing Vasey up for a one-on-one look with Busselman. Busselman protected her near post well, however, and blocked Vasey's shot with her body for another save.
 
Junior Krystal de Ramos gave the Vikings a third look at an equalizer in the 19th minute, when she picked a ball off from the Eagles' back line. De Ramos found herself open at the top center of the box, but sent her shot well high of the goal.
 
The Eagles then doubled their lead early in the second half when Brooke Dunbar bodied a shot into the net off a corner from Emma VanDerhyden in the 53rd minute.
 
Vasey came back with a shot in the 60th minute that sailed over the crossbar just as the snow started to fall in the match.
 
Forsee fired another shot on goal that Busselman knocked wide of the right post in the 69th minute.
 
Poore's goal in the 80th minute put the Vikings back in the match, but the Vikings couldn't find a second goal in the final 10 minutes that would have equalized the match.
 
The loss ends the Vikings' 2017 season, which included the team's first trip to the Big Sky tournament since 2014. The Vikings qualified for the tournament as the fourth seed in their first year under coach Burton, after they were picked to finish ninth in the Big Sky during the preseason.

"I couldn't have asked for a better group of players to have in my first year as a head coach," Burton said. "On the field, they are hard working, determined and hungry for knowledge. Off the field, they are respectful, humble and a great representation of Portland State athletics. They are an incredible group of young ladies.

"We also couldn't have done this without Mo and Jenny [assistant coaches Maureen Whitney and Jenny Lawrence]. It was a unique coaching staff that I can attribute much of our success to. The memories of this season are irreplaceable."
 
Match Notes: The Vikings fall to 14-7-2 all time against Eastern Washington after Friday's loss…The Vikings also fell to 3-9-3 all time in the Big Sky tournament…Forsee broke the single-season record for shots on goal with her 40th of the year in the match…Forsee also finished the season with record-breaking averages for shots per game (4.00) and shots on goal per game (2.00).