After a dramatic comeback win last Sunday at Hillsboro Stadium, Portland State soccer now attempts to take the momentum into its longest road trip of the season for a couple of games to wrap up the non-conference season.

The opponents will provide a very difficult challenge before Portland State dives into Big Sky play. Grand Canyon, a WAC school that was predicted to finish fourth in their conference, and Missouri from the SEC await the Vikings.

A Portland State offense that needed a spark found what they were looking for in the second half last Sunday. After outplaying Pacific for much of the match, they scored twice in the second half for a comeback win, the signature performance of the non-conference season for the team.

The win came in a way that was very representative of this year's team. Without a go-to player on offense, the Vikings have been a balanced force on offense. Krystal de Ramos and Rilee Castilla each notched their first goals of the season while Maxine Nagramada and Jacky Huchler had their first assists.

Now the Vikings look for a couple more meaningful wins to solidify the work that the team has put in to prepare for conference play. The offense hasn't always clicked like it did last Sunday. The improvement from the exhibition season was notable, and it also gives the Vikings hope playing against a couple of teams that have also struggled to score.

While Grand Canyon and Missouri have both struggled to find goals, they have also been the victims of a bit of bad luck. The two teams have combined to play eight overtime matches and have a 1-6-1 record in such games. While the records may show teams that are struggling, the reality is that both teams are poised to break their unlucky streaks.

For Portland State, the hope is that they take advantage of the weaknesses shown by each team. Limit them to bad shots on offense and keep them off the board while finding a clutch goal for the win. The formula has led to most of Grand Canyon and Missouri's losses. It also helped Portland State pick up the dramatic win last Sunday.

While the results aren't the key takeaway from this weekend, entering Big Sky play on a hot streak would be huge for a Vikings team that will open against two tough teams (Idaho and defending champs Eastern Washington) on the road.

GRAND CANYON (1-7-0)

•The Antelopes enter Thursday's match with just one win on the season and losers of their last five matches. They have been incredibly competitive, despite what the record shows. GCU have played four overtime matches this season, losing every game. They kicked off the season with a trip west to play Gonzaga (2-1 loss in double overtime) and No. 21 Washington State (1-0 loss in overtime).
•GCU has already played a couple of Big Sky opponents this season. They fell to Northern Arizona (picked No. 4 in the Big Sky preseason poll) 1-0 in double overtime earlier in the season. Last week, they lost to preseason No. 2 Northern Colorado 2-1.
•At home the Antelopes have a .500 record, although they have only played two matches. Their only win of the season was at home against Houston Baptist, who are just 2-5 in 2018.
•The match between PSU and GCU could be a heated and physical matchup. The Vikings are near the top of the country in fouls and yellow cards. Grand Canyon isn't far behind in yellow cards. They have received six, putting them in a tie for 37th in the country.
•Grand Canyon has scored five goals this season (0.63 per game) on just over 10 shot attempts per game. They have allowed 11 goals and give opponents about five more shots per game than they attempt.
•Like Portland State, Grand Canyon have had five different players score one goal. They have three assists so far, all coming from different players as well. Eight different players have recorded at least one point but nobody has more than two points.
•Abby Burton has started every game in goal for the Antelopes and ranks in the top 25 in the country in saves with 42.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. GRAND CANYON

This will be the first ever meeting between the two schools.

MISSOURI (2-4-1)

•Missouri enters this week on a one-game winning streak. They will have an SEC match against conference foe Kentucky on Thursday before meeting the Vikings on Sunday. They are coming off a 2-0 win against Gonzaga in Columbia last Sunday. (Portland State and Gonzaga were scheduled to meet this year, but the game was canceled because of poor air quality).
•The schedule has been daunting for the Tigers this year, playing two teams each from the Pac-12, Big 10 and Big 12. Gonzaga and Portland State are the only non-Power Five conference schools they will play this season.
•They have also had drama abounds so far through seven matches. The Tigers have gone into overtime four times and have a 1-2-1 record in such games. Their only two losses at home came in overtime. Northwestern and TCU each beat Missouri in 1-0 overtime decisions.
•Missouri has struggled offensively this season, scoring just four goals through seven games (0.57 goals per game). They have created more chances than Portland State, attempting 11.4 shots per game, but have struggled to score. In the 2-1 double overtime win against Iowa State, the Cyclones ended the game in overtime with an own goal. Three players have scored one goal and they have just one assist as a team.
•Kelsey Dossey is the likely starter for the Tigers on Sunday. She has started six matches, allowing nine goals while making 33 saves.
•The Tigers are coached by Brian Blitz, who is in his 23rd season at the helm of the program and 28th overall as a head coach. He has compiled an impressive .561 in his time with the Tigers, winning 235 overall matches. Blitz became the first head coach in program history in 1996 and has remained ever since, creating a program that has expectations for success. They have made the NCAA Tournament seven times under Blitz, with the last appearance coming in 2016.

ALL-TIME SERIES VS. MISSOURI

This will be the first ever meeting between the two schools.

HELPING HAND

In last Sunday's win against Pacific, Portland State tripled its assist total as a team. Entering the match, freshman Jadyn Harris had recorded the only assist on the season for the Vikings in the 2-0 win against Texas Southern at the UTRGV Tournament back on Aug. 19.

Maxine Nagramada and Jacky Huchler added to that total with an assist each in the win. Nagramada played a ball nearly 30 yards on a line to Krystal de Ramos for the opening goal. Huchler, who played just 10 minutes in the match but certainly made the most of it, swung in a cross from the right side that found the feet of Rilee Castilla for the game-winner just 10 minutes later.

Coincidentally, the two new assistees also were the two goalscorers from the Texas Southern game. Nagramada scored an unassisted goal with a toe ball while Huchler scored on a header after a good ball from Harris.

BALANCED ATTACK

The big question for the Vikings this season was who could replace Katie Forsee, who had nine goals and attempted nearly one-third of the total shots for the team. Before the season, Burton indicated that there probably wasn't one person who could replace that production.

"It's going to have to be a group effort," Burton said before the season began. "I think we have some players that we're going to have to rely on a little bit more, because what we lose is a lot of leadership. But it also opens the door for other players to step into that role."

It has opened the door for a number of other players. So far this season five different Vikings have scored and no player has multiple goals. Ellie Vasey leads the team with seven shots but Morgan Matthews, Rilee Castilla and Maxine Nagramada have all attempted five shots as well.

There have also been three different Vikings responsible for the three assists recorded this season. Nagramada, Jacky Huchler and Jadyn Harris have all set up goals for the team. Nagramada and Huchler lead the team with three points each.

ABBIE FAINGOLD RECORD WATCH

Redshirt senior goalkeeper Abbie Faingold entered the 2018 season with a firm place as one of the best goalkeepers in Portland State history. Now, she is chasing after school records in numerous different categories.

Faingold moved up to fourth all-time in goalkeeper wins last weekend with the 16th of her career. She trails Joell Giger by one for third place in the record book. She is fourth in school history with 42 career goalkeeper starts. She trails Niki Brooks (2002-05) by four starts. She is also fourth all-time in goalkeeper minutes played.

She is in third with 182 saves in her career, trailing Kim Street (1996-98) by 132 saves. She is tied with Street for third in school history with 12 career shutouts.

Faingold also cracks the top 10 in goals against average (1.58) and save percentage (.733).

A FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING

This weekend will be the first ever meeting between Portland State and both of its opponents. It is a very rare occurrence, but one that is makes sense when looking at the mileage the Vikings will travel this week. It begins with a 1,200-plus mile journey to Phoenix on before the Grand Canyon match.

From there, the Vikings will fly 1,300 miles to Columbia, Missouri before making a return trip home of nearly 2,000 miles. All-in-all, the Vikings will be gone from Portland for five days and travel over 4,500 miles.

FOUL PLAY

The Vikings find themselves in the top 15 of a couple of categories in the country. The team plays an aggressive style of play, making hard challenges and never backing down when under attack. As a result, they have racked up a number of penalties and yellow cards.

The Vikings are tied for sixth in the country in fouls per game with 14. They are in a tie for 11th in yellow cards with nine.

They played a much cleaner game in last Sunday's win, recording 12 fouls and picking up a single yellow card. They spent much more time in possession and on the attack, which translated to fewer whistles. If they can continue to pass and maintain possession as well as they did in that match, expect the fouls to continue to go down.

MILESTONES

A number of players had career milestones in the Pacific match. Junior Kasey Isobe, who has started every match at outside back this season, went over 2,000 career minutes in the win.

Sophomore captain Ellie Vasey made the 25th start of her already illustrious career. She has started every single game since arriving on the Park Blocks last season. Vasey scored a goal at home against CSUN and leads the team with seven shots.

There were a couple of statistical firsts for the team as well. Senior Jacky Huchler picked up her first career assist on the Rilee Castilla game-winner. She made a nice run down the right wing and crossed the ball into a very dangerous area for the finish.

Molly Joyce also recorded her first shot at Portland State. The redshirt-sophomore continues her comeback to competitive play after injuries derailed her first year as a Viking. She had 25 goals and five assists (55 total points) as a freshman at Clark College. She holds the single-season records for goals and points at Clark College.

A FIRM BACK LINE

There is one area of the pitch that has been incredibly solid and steady for Coach Burton this season: the back line. While Abbie Faingold continues to climb the all-time ranks in goal, the back four has done their best to protect her.

The same four players have started every game for the Vikings. Liz Hansen, an All-Big Sky Honorable Mention pick last season, and Tasi Poore have made a formidable center back pairing. At the outside back positions, Kasey Isobe and Maxine Nagramada have also been impressive.

Nagramada has been perhaps the most dynamic player so far this season, helping solidify the defense while also being a spark plug in the attack. She has a goal and an assist to pace the Vikings with three total points. She has flashed tremendous skill on and off the ball, scoring her goal off a toe poke into the top corner.

THE ATTACK

The return of Krystal de Ramos has been big for the attack, evidenced by her game-tying goal against Pacific. Before the season, Coach Burton liked the offensive potential of de Ramos and Ellie Vasey together.

But de Ramos missed the first two games of the season and played a limited role off the bench in the third because of an injury. Now back in the starting lineup, de Ramos and Vasey will look to wreak havoc against defenses together.