GREELEY, Colo. – The Portland State women's soccer team came up short in its first road contest in two weeks as the Vikings dropped a 3-1 decision to Northern Colorado at Jackson Stadium.
The loss is the second straight for Portland State, moving to a 4-11-0 overall record and 3-3-0 in Big Sky Conference play. For the Bears, they improve to 6-9-3 and 4-1-2 in the BSC.
The preseason conference favorites took control early as Northern Colorado got on the board in the seventh minute, sending a through ball up the middle of the field as Taylor Bray collected the pass and fired the shot for a 1-0 lead.
Bray added a second goal in the 16
th minute as the Bears took an early 2-0 advantage at home.
The Vikings struggled to find a rhythm on offense throughout the match, managing six shots on the night.
Sofi Papastamos nearly scored in the 23
rd minute, sending a shot to the bottom right corner of the net before UNC's keeper got a hand on the ball.
Rilee Castilla also had a chance in the first half, collecting a pass at the top corner of the box before striking just to the right of the goal.
Northern Colorado finished with 10 shots in the first half, landing two more attempts on goal but PSU keeper
Enya Hernandez recorded saves on both as the Bears took a 2-0 lead into the break.
Similar to the start of the opening half, the Bears came out firing as they extended their lead to 3-0 with a goal from Lexi Pulley just 23 seconds into the period.
In the 67
th minute, Papastamos landed another shot attempt on goal, ending once again by a save. She led the Vikings with two shots, both on goal.
Jadyn Harris found the back of the net for Portland State in the 74
th minute, running onto a pass from
Diamond Quinn before bouncing the ball past UNC's keeper for her first goal of the season. Quinn now has three assists the season, recording one in back-to-back games.
PSU continued to pressure Northern Colorado towards the end but couldn't add to their total as the Bears held on to win.
The Vikings continue their road trip as they travel for a matchup with Montana on Sunday, Oct. 20 for the final road contest of the regular season.