Thunderbirds Fall to Vikings In First Big Sky Matchup

The Southern Utah University soccer team kicked off Big Sky Conference play Friday afternoon in Portland, Oregon against the Portland State Vikings. Despite solid defense and a few stellar opportunities created by the offense, the Thunderbirds were shutout 2-0 by the Vikings.

“There is usually a mix of people excited to play and a little bit of anxiety that come with your first conference game, but I felt like we started out pretty well for our first game,” head coach Fred Thompson said. “I thought we were very solid defensively in the first half and we created a few good opportunities. They just happened to get there first and unfortunately we just couldn’t squeeze one over the line today.”

The two teams played a scoreless 70 minutes to pen the game. Neither defense would give in despite well-created opportunities from each team. MaKenzie Lawrence broke through the Viking backline in just the fourth minute of play, creating a one-on-one battle between her and the goalkeeper. She took her shot, but the Viking goalkeeper Abbie Faingold made the save.

In the 17th minute, PSU had a good chance to score, but Alanna Carbonaro made a fantastic save of her own to keep the game scoreless. When the first half came to a close, the Vikings had outshout the Thunderbirds 9-3, but the score was still 0-0.

The Vikings were the first team to break through when Katie Forsee scored her Big Sky-leading sixth goal of the season on a chip shot from about eight yards out. They made it 2-0 about five minutes later on a goal from freshman Diamond Quinn.

Carbonaro finished with career-high 10 saves on the day.

The Thunderbirds will continue Big Sky play Sunday in Missoula when they take on the Montana Grizzlies. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m.

Stay up to date during the 2017 Thunderbird Soccer season by following them on Twitter and Instagram and by liking their page on Facebook.

Story By
SUU Athletic Strategic Communications