PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Bears fell just short in the team's conference opener against the Portland State Vikings in a 3-2 loss. This drops Northern Colorado to 4-6-1 on the season and 0-1-0 in the Big Sky.

Striking first in the Friday night game was Portland States Frankie Ross. In the 5^th minute of play Ross got the ball just to the right of sophomore goalkeeper Kirsten Salminen putting the score at 1-0. The Vikings extended their lead to 2-0 with a shot from Dolly Enneking just before the half.

The Bears struck back in the second half with an unassisted goal from sophomore Ariel Cook making it 2-1 for the Vikings.

Portland State sealed the win with a shot from outside the box from Megan Martin finding the corner of the net and putting the Vikings up 3-1.

Northern Colorado then put on the gas and in the final few minutes of the game freshman Alexsys Tamayo took a pass from Cook and made a shot that found the corner of the goal providing the final score of 3-2.

The Bears will return to Jackson Field and continue conference action on Sunday October 11^th to face Sacramento State at noon.