Complete match notes (PDF)

PORTLAND, Ore. — Forced to practice indoors with the fire in the Columbia River Gorge, the Portland State women's soccer team will be no stranger to adversity by the time it returns to competition this Friday against Oregon State.
 
Besides the poor air quality, the Vikings will be facing their second straight home-away split weekend this week, with the Vikings making the short trip down I-5 for the match at Oregon State at 7 p.m. Friday before hosting Chicago State at 12 p.m. Sunday. At the moment, neither match's start time or location has been changed due to the fires in the state.
 
External factors aside, the Vikings will have their hands full when they play the Beavers out of the Pac-12 Friday evening.
 
The Beavers will be coming into the match off their best win of the season, following a 1-0 road win at San Francisco last Sunday. Sophomore Paula Leblic scored the game-winning goal in the 76th minute of the match, giving OSU head coach Linus Rhode his school record-breaking 82nd career win at Oregon State. The Beavers also hold a 2-1 road win over Seattle – who the Vikings will host next Sunday – and have recorded a pair of 0-0 draws with Kansas State and Missouri.
 
Goalkeeper Bella Geist was named the Pac-12 Goalkeeper of the Week after the team's win over San Francisco. Geist leads the Pac-12 with 15 saves this season, and ranks second in the conference in goals-against average (0.55) and save percentage (.870).
 
The Beavers have only scored three goals so far this season, but they return three of their top four point leaders from last season in Nikki Faris (6g, 6a), Natalie Higgins (4g, 3a) and Emma Jones (1g, 5a). Faris earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention for her efforts last season, while Jones and Higgins each have a goal scored under their belts so far in 2017.
 
The Vikings would appear to have the advantage in their match against Chicago State on Sunday, if for no other reason than the distance the Cougars will travel for the match. The Cougars play a match against Green Bay in Wisconsin on Friday, and will then make the schlep to Portland for their match against the Vikings at 12 p.m. Sunday.
 
The Cougars, out of the Western Athletic Conference, enter the weekend on a three-match losing streak, having lost to Campbell, UIC and Eastern Illinois by a combined score of 18-1. The Cougars are being outscored 26-2 for the season, and their lone win so far came via a 1-0 victory over Saint Xavier – an NAIA team – on Aug. 25.
 
The Cougars are only in their fourth year as a varsity program, and took a 2-52-1 all-time record into the 2017 season. Additionally, the Cougars list only 18 players on their roster, with 12 of those being freshmen or sophomores.
 
A win over the Cougars would break the Vikings' poor luck in Sunday matches so far this season, following two straight Sunday losses to Gonzaga (2-1) and Pacific (3-1).
 
The Vikings are 2-1 on Friday's, however, which could be a source of confidence as the Vikings open the weekend against the Beavers out of the Pac-12. The Vikings are 8-35-2 all time against Pac-12 opponents, but four of those eight wins have come against the Beavers on the Beavers' home field.
 
If the Vikings make it a fifth win on the Beavers' home field Friday, then the Vikings may want to practice indoors more often.
 
SCOUTING OREGON STATE:
• The Oregon State Beavers (2-1-2) will be coming off their best win of the season when they face the Vikings Friday, after beating San Francisco, 1-0, on the road last Sunday. Sophomore Paula Leblic scored the lone goal of the match in the 76th minute, giving OSU head coach Linus Rhode his record-breaking 82nd career win at Oregon State. The Beavers also beat Seattle 2-1 in Seattle earlier this season, and holds a pair of 0-0 home draws with Kansas State and Missouri. The Beavers' lone loss so far this season came at home against Kansas, which beat the Beavers 2-0 despite the Beavers outshooting the Jayhawks, 15-14, in the match.
• The Beavers were picked to finish last in the Pac-12, in part due to losing five starters off last year's team that finished 6-10-2 overall and 3-8-0 in Pac-12 play.
• The Beavers return three of their top four point leaders from last season in Nikki Faris (6g, 6a), Natalie Higgins (4g, 3a) and Emma Jones (1g, 5a). Those three, along with the since-departed Helene Haavik, were the only Beavers to finished with more than three points last season. Faris – who was the Beavers' lone All-Pac-12 honorable mention last season – and Haavik tied for the team lead with six goals each, while Faris beat Jones for the team lead in assists, 6-5, with Haavik and Higgins tied for third with three each.
• The Beavers have only scored three goals so far this season, with Emma Jones, Natalie Higgins and Paula Leblic all accounting for one each. No Beaver has recorded an assist so far in 2017.
• Goalkeeper Bella Geist started all 20 matches for the Beavers last season, and has returned as the Beavers' starter in goal so far in 2017. Geist has only allowed three goals so far this season, giving her a 0.55 goals-against average and .870 save percentage. Geist leads the Pac-12 with 4.0 saves per match, and ranks second in the conference in goals-against average and save percentage. Geist was invited to the U.S. U-23 Women's National Team camp back in March.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS OREGON STATE:
The Beavers lead the all-time series between them and the Vikings, 10-4-1. The Vikings and Beavers last played each other in 2012, with the Beavers winning 2-1 on the Vikings' home field. The Vikings last beat the Beavers in 2009, when they won 1-0 in Corvallis on Aug. 21.
 
PSU VS. PAC-12 OPPONENTS:
The Vikings enter their match against the Beavers 8-35-2 all time against Pac-12 opponents. The Vikings last beat a Pac-12 opponent when they beat Oregon 1-0 in overtime in 2014. Before that, the Vikings' last win over a Pac-12 opponent came in 2009, when they beat Oregon State 1-0 on the road.
 
SCOUTING CHICAGO STATE:
• The Chicago State Cougars (1-5-0) out of the Western Athletic Conference, enter the weekend on a tough three-match losing streak. The Cougars have lost their last three matches to Campbell, UIC and Eastern Illinois by a combined score of 18-1. Additionally, the Cougars lost 3-0 to Idaho State and 5-0 to Northern Iowa earlier in the season, putting their combined goal differential for all matches this season at minus-24. The Cougars' lone win came against Saint Xavier, an NAIA team, on Aug. 25, with the Cougars winning 1-0. The Cougars will play at Green Bay on Friday, before traveling to face the Vikings on Sunday.
• The Cougars are only in their fourth year as a varsity program, and have an all-time record of 2-52-1. Head coach Kevin Meek is in his first year with the Cougars, after taking over the program in February following four years at Assumption College in Massachusetts.
• The Cougars are coming off a 1-16-0 season last year, when they went winless in the WAC. The Cougars lost 13 letterwinners while returning only 12 from last season, though the Cougars returned seven of their 11 starters from a year ago. The Cougars list only 18 players on their 2017 roster, with 12 of those 18 being freshmen or sophomores.
• Sophomore midfielder Mariela Alba returns for the Cougars after leading the team with three goals last season. Taylor Rankin and Amber Jones finished tied for second behind Alba with two goals each last season, but only Rankin returns for the Cougars in 2017. The Cougars lost their two assist leaders from last season in Alejandra Alonso and Madison Berg, who tied for the team lead with two assists each.
• Samantha Noonan and Sara Marcotte have scored the Cougars' two goals so far this season, with Marcotte scoring the Cougars' lone game-winner so far with her goal against Saint Xavier. Makayla Pearl and Mariela Alba, meanwhile, account for the team's two assists so far this season with one each.
• Gabby Klemp and Audra Wisehart split time starting in goal for the Cougars last season, and both finished the season with goals-against average above 5.00, and save percentages of .628 or less. Klemp and Wisehart have each started three matches so far for the Cougars this season, while freshman Bailey McFarland has also appeared in two matches. Of all three goalkeepers, McFarland leads with a 3.72 goals-against average, while Wisehart and Klemp follow at 4.08 and 4.80, respectively. McFarland also leads in save percentage at .750, with Klemp and Wisehart at .647 and .593, respectively.
 
ALL-TIME SERIES VERSUS CHICAGO STATE:
Sunday's match will be the first ever between the Vikings and Cougars.
 
LAST TIME OUT:
The Vikings split their matches last weekend, beating George Fox 2-0 at home on Thursday, before losing 3-1 to Pacific (Calif.) on the road on Sunday. The Vikings dominated their match against the Bruins to start the week, but had to be patient as the Vikings didn't score their second goal until the 89th minute of the match. The Vikings outshot the Bruins 25-5 while holding an 8-1 advantage in corner kicks, and a 14-2 advantage in shots on goal. It wasn't until senior Katie Forsee converted an 89th-minute penalty kick, however, that the Vikings put the match out of reach. Freshman Rilee Castilla scored her first goal as a Viking to put her team up in the 12th minute, and the Vikings held that advantage until Forsee doubled their lead late. The Vikings also scored the first goal against Pacific (Calif.) on Sunday, as freshman Ellie Vasey converted a cross from Liv Jillings in the 25th minute for her first goal as a Viking. Pacific (Calif.) countered with three goals in a seven-minute stretch just a little bit later, however, and the Tigers held that advantage the rest of the way for the 3-1 win over the Vikings. Alex Hussar scored the Tigers' first goal at just past the 30-minute mark, while Jessica Fogel followed with two quick goals back-to-back in the 36th and 37th minutes.
 
UPCOMING:
The Vikings stay home for a match against Seattle next Sunday, Sept. 17, at 1 p.m.
 
RECORD SCORING STREAK:
The Vikings broke the school record for longest scoring streak with their goals against George Fox and Pacific (Calif.) over the weekend. The Vikings have now scored in 12 straight matches, one more than the previous record of 11, set from Sept. 8 to Oct. 24, 1993. The Vikings finished last season with goals in their final seven matches, going back to a 1-0 win over Montana on Oct. 2, 2016. Eastern Washington stands as the last team to shut out the Vikings in a 0-0 draw on Sept. 30 last season.  
 
THE FORCE-EE IS WITH THE VIKINGS:
Senior midfielder Katie Forsee has been in beast mode all season, and leads the Vikings with two goals this season. Additionally, Forsee scored the Vikings' first four goals and assisted on the fifth in the Vikings' 6-1 exhibition win over Fraser Valley on Aug. 15. If the match had counted, Forsee would have finished with the records for fastest hat trick (25 minutes), most goals in a match (4) and most points in a match (9). Forsee led the Vikings with five goals last season, and scored three of the team's six game-winning goals. With her game-winner against Nevada on Aug. 25, Forsee now has five in her Portland State career, tied for the fourth most all time with Megan Martin (2009-12) and Amanda Dutra (2009-12). Forsee also ranks tied for 10th all time in goals scored (9), and ranks tied for fourth and seventh, respectively, in shots on goal (60) and shots (117).
 
IRON WOMAN:
Fifth-year senior Kristin Moyer has played every minute of every match so far this season, and only missed a total of 40 minutes while playing every minute in 14 of 18 matches last season. For her career, Moyer has missed playing time in just nine matches, and did not miss a minute of any match in 2015. Additionally, Moyer has started all 60 matches of her career, giving her a chance to break the school records for career starts and minutes played if she stays healthy this season. Moyer has played 5,395 minutes in her career, just 829 off Juli Edwards' current record of 6,224. Moyer will need the Vikings to make the Big Sky tournament in 2017 to break the school record for career starts, however, as she ranks 14 starts behind the current record shared by Nathalie Wollman and Dolly Enneking at 74 – and the Vikings only have 13 matches remaining on their regular-season schedule.
 
KATIE BURTON ERA:
The Katie Burton era opened for the Vikings with the team's match against cross-town rival and national powerhouse University of Portland on Aug. 18. Burton came to the Vikings after serving as the associate head coach at her alma mater Sacramento State, where she led a program turnaround in just over two years there. The Hornets hadn't made the Big Sky tournament in four seasons before Burton's arrival, but made the Big Sky tournament in their first year under Burton in 2015. Burton led the Hornets to a second-place finish last season, when they clinched the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the Big Sky tournament with a 2-1 win over the Vikings in both teams' regular-season finale.
 
NEWCOMERS:
The Vikings added 13 newcomers to their roster in 2017, including seven from Oregon. Additionally, the Vikings added two players from Washington, two players from Arizona, and a player each from California and Idaho. Of the 13 newcomers, 11 came into the season as freshman, while Tiegan Horton and Molly Joyce enter as junior and sophomore transfers, respectively. The 11 freshman for the Vikings are: Rilee Castilla, Megan Cornett, Paige Donathan, Liz Hansen, Mya Lopez, Tasi Poore, Teá Poore, Kendall Pope, Diamond Quinn, Ellie Vasey, Teri Walters.
 
2016 SEASON RECAP:
The Portland State Vikings came within a game of returning to the Big Sky tournament last season. The Vikings entered their regular-season finale against Sacramento State with the chance to clinch a spot in the tournament with a win, only to fall to the Hornets, 2-1. The season-ending loss put a damper on what had been a strong, and at times dramatic, push by the Vikings to make the tournament. The Vikings entered their final road weekend four points out of the sixth and final playoff spot, and had lost eight straight Big Sky road matches at that point. The Vikings pulled out a pair of 1-0 wins at Northern Colorado and North Dakota, however, giving them their first six-point conference road weekend since 2013. The true magic followed the following weekend when then-senior Breanne Chilton-Eddy scored a golden goal on her own Senior Day against Weber State on a magical shot that ESPN ran on SportsCenter's Top 10 plays that night. The Vikings also came back to beat the Wildcats after giving up the first goal – the first time they had done that since 2013.