KICKOFF
The Portland State women's soccer team extends its Portland home stand with a match against Western Oregon Sunday. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Hillsboro Stadium.
 
The match against the Wolves follows a home match against Nevada last Sunday. That kicked off a stretch in which the Vikings won't leave the Portland area for over a month. After the Vikings host Western Oregon, they'll play at University of Portland on Sept. 10. They'll then return to Hillsboro Stadium for a match against Boise State on Sept. 13, before playing San Diego on the Lewis & Clark campus on Sept. 20.
 
The Vikings won't play outside of the Portland area again until Oct. 1 when they open Big Sky play with a match at Utah Tech.
 
The long home stand will give the Vikings a chance to find their footing. While they still look for their first win of the season, the Vikings found their first goal last Sunday when Aliayha Saldana broke through in the 79th minute against Nevada. It was fitting that Saldana scored the first goal of the season after she also scored the team's first goals in 2024 and 2025.
 
The Vikings will hope Saldana's goal inspires more, starting with Sunday's match against Western Oregon.
 
MATCH #6: PORTLAND STATE (0-5-0) vs. WESTERN OREGON (1-1-0)
LIVE STATS | There will be no live video
DETAILS: Sunday, Sept. 6, 6 p.m., Hillsboro, Ore. (Hillsboro Stadium)
SCOUTING WESTERN OREGON:

• The Western Oregon Wolves opened their season last week, drawing with University Mary, 1-1, last Thursday, before falling 2-1 to Colorado School of Mines – the 12th-ranked team in NCAA Division II – Sunday. The Wolves will play a home match against Chico State this Thursday before facing the Vikings.
• The Wolves came into the year – their first under new head coach Nate Ulness – picked to finish fourth in the eight-team Great Northwest Athletic Conference. The Wolves went 11-5-5 overall and 8-2-4 in GNAC play last season, when they placed third in their conference.
• Ulness came to the Wolves after serving as assistant coach and goalkeeper coach at Eastern Washington from 2022-25. He was head coach at Laramie County Community College before that between 2020-22.
• Goalkeeper Ayanah Soon leads the GNAC and ranks 33rd nationally in NCAA Division II with 6.50 saves per game. She also ranks fourth in the conference and 95th nationally with an .813 save percentage.
• The Wolves ranks third in the GNAC in goals (1.00), assists (1.00) and points (3.00) per game.
• Kyra DiBenedetto leads the team with three points so far this season between one goal and one assist. Her goal gave Western Oregon the lead in the 76th minute of the Wolves' match against University of Mary.
• Abby Doyle scored the Wolves' goal against the Colorado School of Mines.

SERIES NOTES:

• The Vikings lead the all-time series between them and the Wolves, 6-2-0.
• The Vikings have won the last six matches in the series, including a 2-1 victory over the Wolves last year.
• The Wolves' last win over the Vikings came in 2001, when they beat them 1-0 in Monmouth, Ore.

 
FREE KICKS

• LAST WEEK: The Vikings lost 4-1 to Nevada Sunday in what was their return home after three straight matches on the road.
• HOME SWEET HOME: The Vikings will not play a match outside of the Portland area for more than a month, starting with last Sunday's match against Nevada. The Vikings host Western Oregon and Boise State on Sept. 6 and 13, respectively. Meanwhile, they will play at University of Portland on Sept. 10, and host San Diego on the campus of Lewis & Clark College on Sept. 20. The Vikings won't play outside of the Portland area until Oct. 1, when they open Big Sky play at Utah Tech.
• NON-CONFERENCE RECORDS: Non-conference records have been poor indicators of how the Vikings will finish the season in recent years. They were 1-5-2 at the end of their non-conference schedule last season, only to then go 3-3-2 within Big Sky play. The Vikings were similarly 2-5-1 through non-conference play in 2024 and were 1-5-3 in 2022, only to then make the Big Sky tournament both years. The Vikings' best recent non-conference record came in 2023 when they went 4-5-0.
• BREAKTHROUGH GOAL: Aliayha Saldana broke through for the Vikings in the 79th minute of the team's match against Nevada last Sunday, scoring the team's first goal of the season. Saldana also scored the Vikings' first goals in 2024 and 2025.
• EARLY DEFICITS: The Vikings have conceded goals in the first 25 minutes in four of their first five matches of the season. Six of the 11 goals the Vikings have allowed this season have come before the 25th minute of the match. That included giving up two early goals against Nevada last Sunday.
• SHOT DISTRIBUTION: Sixteen players have accounted for the Vikings' 44 shots this season. Aliayha Saldana leads the Vikings with 12 shots. Yamille Picon follows her with five.
• PRESEASON PREDICTIONS: The Vikings were picked to finish sixth in the Big Sky Conference in the league's preseason coaches poll. The Vikings are coming off a 3-3-2 league record in 2025 when they were also 4-9-4 overall.
• TOURNEY REGULARS: The Vikings qualified for the Big Sky tournament for the fourth straight season in 2025 but fell 1-0 in the quarterfinals to Idaho.
• FAMILIAR FACES: The Vikings returned eight starters off last year's team, including All-Big Sky second-team selection Grace Sarabia and honorable mentions Ocean Rideout and Aliayha Saldana. Additionally, Elle Frazier – an All-Big Sky second-team selection in 2024 – returns to the active roster after missing last season with an injury.
• THAT'S OUR MO: Head coach Maureen Whitney (Sacramento State, 2001) begins her third year as head coach. She has an 8-23-9 career record, 5-6-5 in Big Sky Conference matches. Whitney is in her 10th season overall with the Viking program.
• FROM THE WINDY CITY TO THE ROSE CITY: Senior midfielder Alexis Boyer, junior midfielder Gabby Flores and senior midfielder Renee Davis are all transfers from Chicago State. Flores and Davis were the Cougars' point leaders in 2025. Flores had four goals and two assists while Davis had three goals and three assists. Boyer, meanwhile, ranked fourth on the team with 1,417 minutes played over 19 total appearances and 18 starts.
• LOCAL TIES: Three Vikings – sophomore midfielder McKenna Eggleston, sophomore defender Gianelly Gargurevich, and sophomore forward Claire Masters — are from Tigard, Oregon, where they played together at Tigard High School under head coach Scott Eggleston (McKenna's father).
• SHE FLIES WITH HER OWN WINGS: Portland State has 11 Oregonians on the roster, 10 of which are from the Portland metro area… in the era of the transfer portal, PSU has 11 players on the roster who competed at other four-year schools.
• THE ENEMY OF MY ENEMY IS MY FRIEND: The Vikings have two intra-conference transfers in Kendel Johnson (Montana) and Josie DeLine (Weber State). Johnson played in four matches as a freshman as Montana swept the Big Sky regular-season and tournament titles last season. DeLine, meanwhile, played two seasons for Weber State (2023-24) before transferring to the Vikings ahead of their 2025 season.
• BIG SKY EXPANSION: The Big Sky Conference expands this season with the addition of Utah Tech and Southern Utah (despite the departure of Sacramento State). There are now nine conference matches (rather than eight). PSU will play four at home and five on the road. Overall, the Vikings have 17 scheduled matches, with eight at home and nine on the road. Among non-conference opponents, California Baptist, now a member of the Big West Conference, won the Western Athletic Conference last season and competed in the NCAA Tournament. San Diego State and Boise State were powerhouses in the Mountain West Conference last season, with the Broncos going 8-0-2 in league play. PSU plays at University of Portland on Sept. 10.

 
STATS ROUNDUP

• SLOW START ON OFFENSE: The Vikings have been a defense-first team the past two years. They averaged just 0.72 goals per game in 2024, then improved slightly to 0.82 per game last season. So, the Vikings' slow start offensively in 2026 – one goal through five matches – isn't out of the ordinary.
• STINGY DEFENSE: The Vikings allowed only five goals in eight conference matches last season, and never more than one in any match. The four goals Nevada scored last Sunday were the most by an opponent against the Vikings since CSUN scored four against the Vikings on Sept. 4 last season.
• SAVE ME: The Vikings rank seventh in the Big Sky with 3.6 saves per game through their first five matches. Finley Crabtree set a season high with six saves in the Vikings' loss at San Diego State on Aug. 23. Neither Crabtree nor backup goalkeeper Alyssa Green had a save against Nevada, though.
• RETURNING GOAL SCORERS: The Vikings returned their top six scorers from last season. Ocean Rideout led the Vikings with four goals and 10 points. Aliayha Saldana and Grace Sarabia tied for second on the team with two goals each. Bianca Potesta, another returner, also tied Rideout for the team lead with two assists last season.