CEDAR CITY, Utah - The Southern Utah soccer team fell just short on Sunday, as two second-half goals from Devri Hartle weren't enough to beat the Portland State Vikings in a match plagued by rain.
It was all Vikings for the first 76 minutes of play as PSU scored in the 19th minute, the 47th minute, and the 76th minute of play to take a 3-0 lead with just 14 minutes left in the match.
Just as it seemed like the Vikings were going to be able to comfortably cruise to victory, the Thunderbirds turned up the pressure and got on the board in the 78th minute when Hartle took a free kick and placed just over the wall of Vikings and into the top left corner of the goal.
Hartle scored again in the 81st minute, picking up a rebound from a blocked shot by MaKenzie Lawrence and putting it past the goalkeeper and two Viking defenders to cut the PSU lead to just one.
The Thunderbirds kept up the pressure in the final minutes, with Hartle even taking another solid look that was barely saved by the Viking goalkeeper, but eventually ran out of time to complete the comeback.
With her three goals this weekend Hartle is now tied with Lawrence for the team lead in goals scored with five. Hartle and Lawrence are now tied for second in goal scoring in the Big Sky Conference with Weber State's Morgan Quarnberg. Northern Colorado's Maddie Roberts holds the lead with six goals on the season.
This was also the first multi-goal game of Hartle's career as a Thunderbird.
Southern Utah will hit the road this coming weekend for their final road trip of the 2018 season.
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