Last week's road trip showed Portland State just how high the team's ceiling could be. This week, Big Sky Conference play is officially underway, which means it is time to start looking for results. There are no more lessons learned come conference time, only points gained.
The Vikings should have some confidence entering the match. They are coming off a narrow 2-1 loss to Missouri, a team that is undefeated in SEC play so far. Abbie Faingold seemingly stood on her head in goal a number of times, making highlight reel saves to keep the Vikings in it.
Mya Lopez blasted in a highlight-reel goal as well, the first goal ever for the sophomore. It made NCAA Soccer's Twitter feed and continued Portland State's tradition of scoring at least one golazo per year.
Now the real season starts. Head coach Katie Burton said the Missouri game was scheduled to give her and the rest of the coaching staff and team a look at how much they had grown in the month since the first exhibition game.
What she found out? This team has made significant progress. The Vikings played an exhibition against Oregon, a team with a similar talent level to Missouri, to start the season back on Aug. 8. PSU was significantly outplayed, losing a 5-0 match in which they struggled to get even a single touch on the Duck's half of the field.
Against Missouri, they played a much more confident game. The Vikings, led by senior Krystal de Ramos, attacked the Missouri back line with venom. They forced the Tigers into committing eight fouls. While they didn't create an abundance of shots, they did put two of them on goal and had a couple chances to take the lead in the second half that just missed.
Overall, the game showed what the Vikings can do come Big Sky play. The team is playing the brand of soccer that Burton and associate head coach Maureen Whitney envisioned. Now comes the time to take it to the next level.
It won't be an easy start to the conference schedule. The Vikings match-up against the top-ranked Big Sky team in the RPI and the two-time defending champions on the road. They are being thrown right into the fire, but a good start on this opening road trip would be extremely helpful for postseason hopes later down the road.
IDAHO (3-5-1)
•The Vandals enter the match coming off a 2-0 loss against Oregon in Eugene. The Ducks scored both goals in the first half and outshot Idaho 21-1 in the match. Portland State had an exhibition match against Oregon before the season started that the Ducks won 5-0.
•Goalkeeper Julia Byerlein played the second half of the Oregon and made five saves without allowing a goal in her first action of the season. Senior Makayla Presgrave has started every game in goal this season.
•The Vikings and Vandals have another shared opponent on the schedule; Seattle. On Sept. 2 the Redhawks defeated Portland State 3-0. On the same field last Thursday, Idaho won an overtime contest with Seattle 3-2.
•Idaho competed with fellow Big Sky school Montana and former Big Sky member North Dakota earlier this season at the Montana Invite. The Vandals lost to North Dakota and beat Vermont, the fourth team at the tournament. Montana also beat Vermont and tied North Dakota.
•The Vandals have played just two games at home this season, but they are unbeaten inside the Kibbie-Asui Activity Center. They defeated Grambling State 3-1 back in August and played out a scoreless draw with UC Riverside in the last match there.
•Six different players have scored a goal this season and 11 players have recorded at least one point. Surprisingly, the two players who have attempted the most shots, Kaysie Bruce (12) and Taylor Brust (10), don't have a point yet this season.
•The second half has been more exciting for both the Vandals and the teams they have played this year. While Idaho has more shots, goals and corners in the second half of games, they have also allowed seven second-half goals. If the game is close at halftime, expect a thrilling conclusion as Portland State has also been more aggressive in the second half this season.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. IDAHO
The Vikings trail in the all time series 5-7-0. Portland State won last year's meeting, also played in Idaho, 2-1. Maxine Nagramada scored the opener in the 37th minute to give PSU the halftime lead. Idaho's Megan Goo scored the equalizer but just 64 seconds later Katie Forsee scored the game-winner for the Vikings.
Portland State has won three of the last five meetings against Idaho and the two sides have never tied.
EASTERN WASHINGTON (4-3-2)
•The Eagles are one of two Big Sky teams (Northern Arizona being the other) that enter the conference season with a winning record. Eastern Washington picked up four wins and look to be a big threat to defend their conference championship.
•Eastern Washington has won the last two Big Sky tournament championships. They were predicted to win the conference again in the preseason coaches poll. They picked up eight of nine possible first-place votes.
•One of the best defensive teams in the conference, the Eagles lead the Big Sky in shutouts (four) and are second in goals against average (0.83). They have not allowed a goal in regulation time since August, going four straight matches with a shutout through 90 minutes.
•Goalkeeper Kelsee Winston is the defending Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week. She was in goal for two shutouts last weekend, making nine total saves across the two games. The Eagles finished the weekend 1-0-1, beating Utah State and playing a scoreless draw against South Dakota State.
•Eastern Washington fans have had plenty of chances to see their team play in person. The Eagles had five non-conference matches at home, finishing 2-1-2 in them. They haven't won a home match in almost a month, however. Their last win in Cheney came on Aug. 26 against Grambling State.
•They share a common opponent with Portland State. The two sides both lost 3-0 decisions to Seattle U on the road.
•Brooke Dunbar is the only Eagle with multiple goals this season. Allison Raniere leads the team with 19 shots. She has scored one goal and also has one assist to her name.
ALL-TIME SERIES VS. EASTERN WASHINGTON
Portland State leads the series 14-7-2, but haven't picked up a win against Eastern Washington since 2014. The teams played twice last season, once in the regular season and once in the Big Sky tournament. Both games were played in Cheney, and Eastern Washington came out on top in both as well, outscoring the Vikings 5-1 over the two games.
In the regular season, Eastern Washington dominated. They beat the Vikings 3-0 and outshot them 25-2. Krystal de Ramos received a red card in the 63rd minute when the game was already 2-0 in favor of EWU. The Eagles' Devan Talley also received a yellow card in a fiesty game.
The semifinal contest was much more evenly matched. The game, played in November in Cheney, saw significant snowfall in the second half. Eastern Washington jumped out to a 2-0 lead, but Portland State handled the adversity well. Tea Poore scored her first career goal to cut the lead to 2-1, where it would stay. The Eagles narrowly outshot PSU 9-8 in the match, and Krystal de Ramos received more disciplinary action with a yellow card.
STILL LOOKING FOR SOMETHING
At the start of the season there was one major question that Portland State's coaching staff had to answer; who would replace Katie Forsee? As Big Sky play begins, it is still unclear who the player, or group of players, that will rise up to the occasion is, but it is becoming more and more crucial to figure it out.
Forsee played a huge role in the Big Sky success last season. In fact, the recap of last year's match against Idaho led with this, "If you ever find yourself in any sort of trouble, get yourself a
Katie Forsee and you'll be just fine."
The senior scored the game-winner, her sixth of the season, in that match. Who will the Vikings lean on in crunch time this season? They still may not know themselves. Maxine Nagramada has a game-winning goal, but that was in a 2-0 win against Texas Southern.
The clutchest goal scored by a Viking this year came from Rilee Castilla, who Burton said would play a key role in the attack this season. As conference play comes and the VIkings start to look for results over progress, they will need someone to step up.
SCORING MATTERS
This may be an obvious statement, but the Vikings are much more successful when they score multiple goals. After all, the point of soccer is to score more than your opponent. Still, scoring more than one goal has resulted in a win every time it has happened for Portland State this season.
The Vikings beat Texas Southern 2-0 and Pacific 2-1. The only two wins for the Vikings are also the only two games they have scored multiple goals. On the other hand, the Vikings have lost every game in which they have failed to score multiple goals. When scoring zero or one goals, Portland State is 0-5.
VIKS IN THE BIG SKY
There are a couple of Viking players that are towards the top in the Big Sky, statistically speaking.
Krystal de Ramos is tied for the conference lead in goals per game with 0.40. The senior missed the first two games of the season but has responded in a big way, scoring in two of the last three games. She is also tied for third in points per game with 0.80.
Abbie Faingold is tied for second in saves per game with five. She has recorded at least four saves in every match.
VAMOS, DE RAMOS!
Krystal de Ramos was expected to be a key contributor entering the season. She's a senior, she played for the Philippines National Team this summer and has more career goals than any other Portland State player. But after scoring five times as a sophomore, de Ramos didn't find the back of the net once during her junior season.
This year, the fiery, 5-foot-4 senior missed the first two games of the season because of an injury picked up during the exhibition season. She made a slow return, playing limited minutes, over the next few weeks.
But the last two weeks have shown just what the forward can do. De Ramos scored in back-to-back games for the Vikings. Her first goal of the season came against Pacific, a second-half equalizer that energized the comeback win.
Her second goal came against Grand Canyon just 67 seconds into the match. It put the Vikings in front, and although they would give up four unanswered goals in that game, de Ramos put her name in the PSU record book with the fifth fastest goal in team history.
ROAD WOES
The Vikings spent a majority of the non-conference season on the road, and unfortunately they didn't experience much success in true road games. The Vikings are 0-3 in away matches and have been outscored 9-2.
At home, Portland State is 1-1. They have the same .500 record in neutral site games, but are still searching for their first win in a true road match.
Last season, the Vikings were 2-5-1 in away matches, making a combined record of 2-8-1 on the road under head coach Katie Burton.
VIKINGS AND THEIR OPPONENTS IN THE TOP 50
After a couple of scrappy games against each other last season, it looks like Portland State and Eastern Washington are set for another clash of beliefs on Sunday. Both teams rank in the top 15 in fouls committed per game. Eastern Washington commits the seventh most fouls per game in the country with 13.33. The Vikings aren't far behind in 11th with 12.71.
Last year's games saw two red cards, one for each team, and a flurry of yellows. This game will likely be just as gritty.
The Eagles also rank in the top 100 in the country in a number of other categories, including shutout percentage and shots per game.
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 is fourth all-time in goalkeeper wins with 16 in her career. She trails Joell Giger by one for third place in the record book. She is fourth in school history with 44 career goalkeeper starts. She trails Niki Brooks (2002-05) by two starts, which she will likely get this weekend to move into a tie for third.
She passed Brooks in goalkeeper minutes played last weekend to move into third in PSU history with 3,918.
She is in third with 193 saves in her career, trailing Kim Street (1996-98) by 121 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 (1.63) and save percentage (.731).
VIKING MILESTONES
Abbie Faingold is climbing her way up the record books and will likely hit some career milestones on the way this weekend. She will likely become the third goalkeeper in Vikings history to play over 4,000 minutes this weekend, needing just 82 minutes to get there.
Faingold could also become just the third PSU goalkeeper with 200 career saves. She needs seven over the weekend to get to the mark and averages five per game this year.
If Krystal de Ramos starts both matches she will reach 40 career starts. Her attacking partner Ellie Vasey is 116 minutes away from playing 2,000 in her career.
Liz Hansen played her 1,000th career minute and made her 20th career start last weekend. Kasey Isobe made her 25th career start and Mya Lopez scored her first career goal as well.
