PORTLAND – Following a 4-2 victory in the Conference opener, the Portland State Women's soccer team will return to action this weekend when they take on Northern Colorado (Oct. 1) and the University of Montana (Oct. 3) on the road.

The Vikings will head on the road with a 3-5 overall record sitting 1-0 in Big Sky action. Friday and Sunday's matchups will both be broadcast on ESPN+.  

LAST TIME OUT 

PSU earned its first Big Sky conference victory since the 2019 season on Sunday, defeating Sacramento State 4-2 at home. The Vikings had a season-high 18 shots in the win, putting eight of those on goal.

HOFFMAN HAT TRICK 

• Freshman Abi Hoffman put on a show against the Hornets, netting a trio of goals in the victory over Sacramento State (Sept. 26)
• Hoffman was named the Big Sky Offensive Player of the Week following her performance in the Big Sky opener

VIKING ATTACK

• The Vikings have scored seven of their nine goals in the second half
• Three different Vikings have a shot total in the double digits entering the weekend (Chloe Huling, Raniyah Burton, Abi Hoffman)
• Hoffman leads the Vikings with a team-high 20 shots and 10 shots on goal
• Ani Jensen is the only Viking to have a goal and an assist on the year. The Sophomore tallied both a goal and an assist against Western Oregon (Aug. 27) before adding a second goal to her total in the Viking's win over CSUN (Sept. 10)
• Sienna Higinbotham ranks third in the point column, entering the weekend with a pair of goals under her belt

SHE'S A KEEPER 

• Viking goalkeeper Sidney O'billovich saw limited minutes to begin the season before getting her first career start in goal at San Francisco (Sept. 12)
• The Sophomore transfer recorded a career-high nine saves in her second start of the season against Oregon (Sept. 19) and earned her first win against Sacramento State (Sept. 26)
• O'billovich enters Friday with 25 saves and a .748 save percentage

A WHOLE LOT OF LIZ

• Fifth-year senior defender Liz Hansen ranks seventh all-time in career minutes played (5,729)
• She has put in a team-high 712 minutes of work this season, playing all 90 minutes in seven of eight matches

SCOUTING NORTHERN COLORADO (FRIDAY, OCT. 1 – 6 PM PT)

The Bears are 4-6-2 overall and 2-0-0 in conference action. They will enter Friday's matchup following a pair of wins over Southern Utah (3-1) and Northern Arizona (2-0). UNC has scored 13 goals this season while allowing an average of 1.33 goals per match this season.

SERIES HISTORY 

The Vikings lead the all-time series against the Bears 8-6-2. Due to an abbreviated 2021 spring season, the teams haven't met since Oct. 18 2019 when the Vikings fell 1-3 on the road. Portland State is 0-2-1 against UNC with Head Coach Katie Burton at the helm.

SCOUTING MONTANA (SUNDAY, OCT. 3 – NOON PT)

The defending Big Sky Champion, Montana Grizzlies will enter Sunday with a 6-4 overall record. After defeating Northern Arizona (1-0) and Southern Utah (1-0) last weekend, Montana is 2-0 in Big Sky action. UM will look to build on a five-game win streak when they take on Sacramento State on Friday (Oct. 1) before hosting the Vikings.   

SERIES HISTORY 

The Vikings trail the all-time series 12-15-3. PSU has fallen to Montana in three straight road matches, two of those occurring in the spring when the Grizzlies took a pair of wins from the Vikings 2-1 and 3-0 in Missoula. The Vikings will look for their first defeat of the Grizzlies since 2016.