@UNCBearsSoccer falls at home for the first time

Friday, October 14

Greeley, CO

7:00 p.m.

University of Northern Colorado

8-6-1, 3-3-0

Portland State University

4-10-1, 2-4-1

Portland State

Northern Colorado

10/14/2016 10:48:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: Thomas Hoffman, uncbears.com

Greeley, Colo – Northern Colorado Women's Soccer was back in action Friday night, as they took on Big Sky foe Portland State. It was the Vikings, however, who came away victorious with a 1-0 victory, their second conference win of the season.

HOW IT HAPPENED
Portland State, hungry for another Big Sky win, came out aggressive in the first half.

The Vikings forced four early shot attempts, none of the them reaching junior goalkeeper Madeline Burdick.

In the 30^th minute, Brea Chilton-Eddy played a brilliant ball in to Katie Forsee. With a skillful touch, Forsee managed to maneuver around her defender and chip the ball over Burdick and into the net, breaking the scoring drought.

Lead in hand, the Vikings hung their hopes on the Portland State back line.

The Bears began to press forward, sending in ball after ball. PSU would quickly clear anything that came in the way of goalkeeper, Abbie Faingold.
The final 45 resembled much of the final moments of the first half.

Northern Colorado would sprint to the end line, earning six corner kicks in the second half alone. Each time, the Viking defense would be up to the challenge.

UNC finished the evening with 11 total shots, three of them on goal. Forward Brooke Braden led the team with five shots, including one that was curling for the top left corner of the goal before Faingold stretched to make the save.

No late game dramatic were cued up for the Bears in the game's waning moments. At final time, Northern Colorado was left with their first home loss of 2016.

KEY STAT
Saves – Abbie Faingold finished with three saves, compared to Burdick's one

MOST VALUABLE BEAR
Kenzie Engelkins – Played 45 minutes in Friday's contest, a career high. She also recorded one shot in the match.

IN THEIR WORDS
Kenzie Engelkins, Freshmen Midfielder
"Portland State played what I like to call kick ball. I think it was hard for us not to get sucked into playing that game as well. At times, we did get the ball on the ground and that's when we had our best moments in the attacking third of the field. We just didn't do enough of it tonight."

"I have been trying to get a little better in each practice. I wanted to prove that I can handle myself on the field and make a difference in games. I knew that we had a very talented lineup coming off of last years, so I knew I needed to step up my game to prove that I could be a part of the 11 on the field."

Tim Barrera, head coach
"Portland State came in toward the bottom of the table, and they're a pretty good team. They were going to play hard. They put us under a lot of pressure and we didn't necessarily deal with that the best. As the game wore on we got better. We just made a couple of mistakes that cost us tonight. The goal they scored was a great bit of skill for Forsee."

"Our response on Sunday has to be similar to our response last weekend, coming off the Idaho State loss. We have to pick it up a little bit from, one, an intensity standpoint and two, a quality of play standpoint."

"That was a tough match here at home. In conference play, you want to get your points at home and obviously we left some points out there today."

NOTABLES
Kenzie Engelkins played the most minutes of her career tonight (45).
Brooke Braden led the team with five shots.
Stephanie Scarcello recorded her first shot of the season.
Northern Colorado outshot their opponent for the first time in two games.

UP NEXT
The Bears return to Jackson Stadium on Sunday, when they host Sacramento State. All games at Jackson Stadium are free and open to the public.