The first game of the UTRGV tournament and the season brought the heat, quite literally. The Vikings couldn't find a goal in temperatures that would reach over 100 degrees and dropped the season-opener against Oral Roberts 1-0. 

Portland State traveled over 2,300 miles on Thursday, just a couple of days after playing their final exhibition in Hillsboro on Monday. After the journey and with limited practice days, head coach Katie Burton was pleased with the progress she has seen with her team.

"We didn't get the win, but we made great strides on two days of training," Burton said. "Everything we asked of them on both sides of the ball, they were able to execute."

After a start-and-stop first half that saw Oral Roberts make 11 substitutions — the Vikings added seven of their own — and the teams combine for double-digit fouls, it looked like there would be no score at halftime.

But with a minute to play the Golden Eagles struck. A cross from Martha Helsee found McKenzie Edwards, who finished from inside the box to give ORU the halftime lead. The Golden Eagles would maintain that advantage through the second half to win 1-0.

The Golden Eagles had a couple opportunities off corner kicks in the opening 10 minutes, but the Viking defense rose to the occasion and didn't allow a shot. Jade Rafallo attempted the first shot of the game for the Vikings in the 11th minute, but Ryliegh Bohnenstiehl made the save for ORU.

Rilee Castilla picked up a yellow card in the 20th minute. After the ORU goal, the Vikings moved quickly to win a corner before the halftime whistle but couldn't turn it into a goal.

The Vikings created plenty of chances in the second half as well, showing offensive improvement from the exhibition season. They attempted seven shots, three of which were on goal, and made a charge at the end of the match. In the final seven minutes the Vikings had three corner kicks and two shots, but couldn't find the final touch needed for a bit of late game heroics. 

"Offensively we were very good today," Burton said. "We were dangerous in the final third, creating more shots, crosses and corners than our exhibition games combined."

Despite the result, the signs were there that everything is starting to come together for the Vikings. They are still dealing with injuries to multiple key contributors, but have the effort and the look of the gritty and tough defensive team that Burton would like to see.

"Defensively our organization is getting better. Tactically we are still learning when and where to expend the energy to be more efficient and save energy for our attack. At the end of the day, as a staff we were very pleased with the progress we have made."

The Vikings will finish off the UTRGV Tournament with a match against Texas Southern on Sunday morning at 9 a.m. PT. The Lady Tigers begin their season later today against hosts UTRGV.


MATCH NOTES: The Vikings fall to 0-2 all-time vs. Oral Roberts … Freshman Sofi Papastamos started her first collegiate match and three other freshmen (Amanda Dahl, Jadyn Harris and Alyssa Ulugalu) made their collegiate debuts … Tasi Poore and Liz Hansen were the only field players to go the full 90 minutes for the Vikings … Jacky Huchler made an appearance after sitting out the exhibition season. She recorded a header shot that missed the goal wide.

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