Vikings win conference opener

Portland State soccer opened their conference schedule on Sunday against Sacramento State. The Vikings improved their record to 8-3-3, 1-0-0 in the Big Sky Conference. Sophomore defender Amy Orr was a bright spark as usual. This time, however, it was on the offensive side of the ball.

Orr recorded one goal and an assist en route to the Vikings’ 4-1 win over the Hornets. She continues to be a spark on both sides of the field, since last season as a freshman. Orr was one of five players to start all five matches last season, along with being the top scoring defender and was tied for second overall with five points last season.

In the first half, it was the Vikings who struck first, courtesy of midfielder Katie Miyake. Miyake took an assist from Orr and forward Megan Plinski at the 24:06 mark. Miyake recorded her sixth goal of the season, increasing her team-leading total of points to 18. Those 18 tie her for the third most points in a single season at PSU.

“We had some very good individual performances today that helped make up for a few defensive lapses,” Head Coach Tara Bilanski-Erickson stated in a recent press release.

Going into halftime, the Vikings held a 1-0 lead. Early in the second half, Portland State went up 2-0 on a shot blasted outside of the top box from last season’s honorable mention defender Amy Orr. It was only the second goal of Orr’s career. She came all the way from the defensive end of the field for the goal.

Sacramento State had four shots on goal but were declined three times by Portland State goalkeeper Joell Giger. The Hornets’ only goal came off of a misled cross attempt from freshman Hillary Guay. The ball floated under the crossbar to cut the lead to 2-1 in the 61st minute of the second half.

Following the goal from Guay, Portland State players put two more of their own on the board to lead for good. Freshman Jordan Bishop put in a header at the 81:34 mark, then tallied another off a right-footed laser at 85:59. Portland State totaled 10 corner kicks in the match, while Sacramento State only had three. The Vikings launched 10 shots at Sacramento State’s goal, while the Hornets only got off four. The Vikings also totaled 10 fouls. The dirtier, perhaps more aggressive style of Sacramento State racked up 14.

The win for the Vikings was only their second over the Hornets in the two teams’ all-time seven meetings.

������The Vikings will play their next three games on the road. These games will be the ultimate challenge for the Vikings. They start out with preseason conference favorite Idaho State on Thursday in Pocatello. Last season, Portland State lost to Idaho State 2-0, and the Bengals went on to win the 2001 Big Sky Championship. The following two games for the Vikings are against conference foes Weber State and Eastern Washington.