PORTLAND, Ore. – The University of Idaho women's soccer team suffered a road loss on Sunday at Portland State after allowing two first-half goals in a 2-1 loss at Hillsboro Stadium.

Vandal junior Chelsea Small scored her second goal of the season and 23rd of her career to bring her within one of tying Idaho's all-time record, but Idaho gave up a pair of header goals and despite a strong second half, couldn't find an equalizer.

Idaho slips to 0-2-2 after the match, while Portland State moves to 2-2-0. PSU's Melissa Trammell started the scoring in the 10th minute off a cross from Esty Geiger. Idaho's Small answered with strike of her own, assisted by Jill Flockhart, at the 33:27 mark to tie things up.

Less than four minutes later, PSU re-took the lead off a score by Amanda Dutra from Amber Fenton at 37:09 and the Vikings maintained the lead through the final 53 minutes.

“They put us under a lot of pressure with some long balls and a couple set pieces and they scored two good goals,” Idaho head coach Pete Showler said. “In the second half, I thought we dominated possession and played better soccer, but just couldn't quite break them down.”

The Flockhart-to-Small goal is the second such combination already this season. Small's goal moved her into second all-time at Idaho in that category, and also gave her 54 career points, which ties her for second on that list. Flockhart's dish gives her seven career assists (tied, sixth all-time) and 19 career points (tied, ninth all-time).

While she played the final 30 minutes of Friday's home opener against Seattle, freshman goalkeeper Marissa Fehrman made her first career start at goalkeeper, and Showler said she passed the test.

“She played great today,” Showler said. “She couldn't have done anything about either of the goals, but she commanded her area well, made some great saves and handled the situation well.”

The Vikings outshot Idaho, 14-7 overall and 8-5 in on-target attempts. PSU committed 15 fouls to Idaho's nine, and held a 5-4 edge in corners. Small led Idaho with five total shots, four of which were on target.

While the team hasn't yet cracked the win column, Showler said he liked what he saw from the Vandals in the second half on Sunday and believes the team is ready to break through.

“They know exactly what they've got to do,” Showler said of his team. “If we put two halves together like the second half today, we'll be golden. The players and staff are disappointed we lost, but the second half performance was much-improved, and every performance so far has gotten better.

“We're excited for this weekend hosting the Governor's Cup and we're eager to get that first 'W' and then hopefully a second one.”

The Vandal women host the Governor's Cup, at Guy Wicks Field on Friday and Sunday. The tournament features Idaho, Idaho State, Boise State and Montana. The three-way battle for intrastate supremacy begins this weekend and closes out on Oct. 29, when Idaho visits Boise State in the season finale.

Idaho will be trying to claim state bragging rights for the third year in a row after claiming the cup in 2009 and 2010. In the Governor's Cup standings, teams earn three points for a regulation win, two points for an overtime win and one point for a draw.

Montana faces off with Boise State in the tourney opener at 2 p.m. on Friday, then Idaho takes on Idaho State in the nightcap at 4:30 p.m. Both matches will be played at Guy Wicks Field.