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HILLSBORO, Ore. — A 2-0 score line is rarely deceiving, and yet, the Portland State women's soccer team beat George Fox 2-0 Thursday in a match that did not feel like how its score line finished.
 
The Vikings (2-2-0) outshot the Bruins (0-1-0) 25-5 in the match, and three of the Bruins' five shots came as the Vikings smothered desperation attempts within the final three minutes of regulation. Additionally, the Vikings finished with a 14-2 advantage in shots on goal, as well as an 8-1 advantage in corner kicks (George Fox's lone corner kick came in the 87th minute).
 
"We have been working on being more dynamic in the final third all week," PSU head coach Katie Burton said after the match. "Movement, angles and triangles for support off the ball – the girls were able to implement all of these aspects into the game. So regardless of the score, we were very happy with how they have progressed on the offensive side of the ball."
 
Still, after freshman Rilee Castilla scored the first goal of the match in the 12th minute, the Bruins stayed within a goal all the way until the 89th minute, when senior Katie Forsee added the Vikings' second goal on a penalty kick.
 
The Bruins had a couple of looks at a potential equalizer in the second half, before Forsee's PK doubled the Vikings' lead late.
 
A George Fox cross in the 51st minute nearly found GFU forward Emma Weme in the six-yard box, where Weme was contending with Viking defender Rachel Michieli. Michieli beat Weme to the ball, but couldn't get enough on it to clear it. Weme challenged Michieli and force the ball toward the Viking goal, but PSU goalkeeper Abbie Faingold was there to collect for one of her two saves on the day.
 
Weme again threatened the Vikings' back line in the 87th minute, when she earned a corner for the Bruins with the score still 1-0. The Vikings cleared the initial chance off the corner, but the Bruins won the second ball and fired off three shots near the top center of the box in the 88th minute. The Viking defense smothered all three attempts, however, and the match stayed at 1-0 until Forsee's converted penalty in the 89th minute.
 
"It said a lot about the team's maturity and mental toughness to not panic when George Fox started to gain some momentum," Burton said. "We absorbed the pressure and were still able to execute on the offensive side."
 
The Vikings originally went up 1-0 on Castilla's goal in the 12th minute of the match. Castilla fielded a poor clearance from the Bruins' backline on the play, and immediately fired a shot to the top center of the goal that sailed over George Fox goalkeeper Kelsey Kammerzell's head. The goal marked Castilla's first goal as a Viking, and made her the Vikings' fourth different goal scorer so far this season.
 
The Vikings were deserving of a second goal far sooner than they eventually got it, with freshman Ellie Vasey and redshirt sophomore Maxine Nagramada particularly deserving of goals that didn't materialize.
 
Nagramada had a pair of nice combinations with Forsee in the match, either of which could have resulted in a goal. Nagramada played Forsee, who played it right back to Nagramada in the eighth minute, but Nagramada couldn't squeeze a shot past Kammerzell for a goal. Nagramada and Forsee again connected on a give-and-go up the center of the field in the 76th minute, but Nagramada's ensuing shot skipped just past the right post.
 
Vasey, meanwhile, had an especially strong second half, starting with a shot in the 58th minute that nearly skipped past Kammerzell on the near post. Forsee played Vasey out wide to the left on the play, and Vasey took a turn back towards the center of the field before skipping a hard, right-footed shot to the near post. Kammerzell didn't collect Vasey's shot cleanly as she dove to save it, but the ball stuck like Velcro to her gloves, negating any chance for a follow-up shot.
 
Vasey and Forsee connected again just a few minutes later in the 61st minute, when Vasey sprinted on to a ball up from Forsee before one-timing a left-footed shot on goal. Kammerzell had an easier time collecting this one, however, and made one of her 12 saves in the match.
 
Vasey got vindication later in the second half when she made the play that led to the penalty in the 89th minute. Forsee found Vasey with some space on the right side of the field on the play, and a George Fox defender took down Vasey in the box in their hurry to recover.
 
Forsee slotted home the ensuing penalty, giving the senior her second goal of the season. With the goal, Forsee now has nine goals in her Portland State career, tying her for 10th all-time with Juli Edwards (2004-07), Megan Plinski (2002-05), Kala Renard (2008-11), and her former teammate, Kayla Henningsen (2011-14).
 
The Vikings will face a step up in competition when they return to action Sunday, as they travel to play Pacific (Calif.) out of the highly competitive West Coast Conference for their first match outside of the Portland area.
 
"Pacific will be a tougher opponent. We will have to do what we did today, but at a faster pace," Burton said. "I have all the confidence in the girls to be able to step up and match the level of competition of any opponent we play."
 
Kickoff for the Vikings' match against Pacific (Calif.) has been moved up to 11 a.m. (PT) Sunday due to high expected temperatures in the Stockton area.
 
Match Notes: The Vikings improve to 2-1-1 all-time against George Fox with Thursday's win…The Vikings and Bruins hadn't played a regular-season match against each other since 1995…With two goals in Thursday's match, the Vikings have now scored goals in 11 straight matches, tying the program record originally set from Sept. 8 to Oct. 24, 1993.