Portland State University Athletics

HILLSBORO, Ore. – After trailing 2-0 at halftime, the Portland State women's soccer team completed a 3-2 comeback victory in overtime over Idaho on Sunday at Hillsboro Stadium.

The win moves the Vikings to 4-7-1 on the season and 2-2-1 in Big Sky action while the Vandals fell to 8-4-2 and 2-3-1. The win marks the first time in program history the Vikings have come back from a two-goal deficit to earn a victory.

"The comeback win broke down a lot of barriers for us," said Head Coach Katie Burton. "At the end of the day, it was every single player's determination to work for each other to get into space, to complete the next pass, and to be the one to win the game. They've been working towards that all season. There was no hoping someone would do it, but every single person wanting to be the one who would win it. I'm so proud of this group!"

The Vandals scored the first goal of the day in the 23rd minute to secure the early lead. Keeping their foot on the gas, the Vandals struck again just minutes later when Ariel Lofton extended the lead with a goal in the 26th minute.

Despite recording nine shots and three corner kicks, the Vikings were unable to find the net in the opening 45 minutes of action as they headed into the break trailing 2-0.

"I thought we played well from start to finish," said Burton. "The difference in the first half was they put their two shots away and we didn't capitalize on the opportunities we had, but we were very dangerous."

The Vikings continued to be dangerous, striking less than three minutes into the second half in unusual fashion. Raniyah Burton sparked the own goal after her shot attempt was saved by Idaho's Avrie Fox and was eventually knocked in off the foot of a Vandal.  

It was Chloe Huling who found the equalizer for Portland State in the 58th minute. Burton played a role once again, dumping it off to Huling in the top of the box to knot the game at two.

The Vikings fired off three shots in the final nine minutes of regulation but were unsuccessful. Goalkeeper Sidney O'billovich held her own against the Vandals attack, denying a pair of shots down the stretch to send things to overtime.

It was Burton once again who sparked the golden goal for PSU after drawing a foul in the box in the 94th minute. Sienna Higinbotham sealed the deal for Portland State, sending a perfectly placed penalty kick into the left side of the net as the Vikings clinched the 3-2 victory.

The Vikings totaled a season-high 28 shots, the most by any Viking squad since 2017.  Higinbotham led the way putting a team-best three shots on target while Abi Hoffman added a team-high seven shots. O'billovich finished the day with seven saves while the defense held Idaho to just eleven shots in 95 minutes of action. 

The Vikings will look to carry their momentum into next week as they head on the road to take on Idaho State on Friday (6 PM PT) and Weber State on Sunday (12 PM PT).