BOISE, Idaho – North Dakota State soccer fell on the road to University of the Pacific 4-1 Thursday afternoon at the Boas Soccer Complex in the opening game of the Boise State Invitational.
 
The Bison would fall behind early on a tough break after two saves were made, but the ball wasn't cleared out of the penalty area. After an initial save by Abby Wilkinson, followed up by a ball cleared off the line, Pacific capitalized on the failed clearance, as Jade Enalen put the Tigers in front with a goal in the 10th minute.
 
Payton Jo Armijo had a good look on goal and a chance to equalize in the 16th minute, but sailed her shot just over the crossbar from just outside the penalty area.
 
A few minutes later, the Tigers doubled their lead. In the 22nd minute, Lauren Frohan settled a cross from by Aniela Jensen in the right corner of the penalty area, before beating a Bison defender and firing a shot past Wilkinson.
 
Both teams would have just one more shot in the remainder of the first half, which saw the Bison head into the break trailing by two.
 
In the second half, the Bison had three early chances from Kelsey Kallio, but she had one shot blocked and two more miss wide in the first 15 minutes. Pacific then added to their advantage in the 64th minute. Erin Brown took a pass from Frohan and fired a shot across goal and in off the left post to put the Tigers up 3-0.
 
Lavin Douglass scored for the Bison in the 73rd minute to snap a scoreless skid for the Bison. Douglass settled under a high bouncing ball and struck a left-footed volley into the top right corner from outside the penalty area. For Douglass, it was her third career goal and first for the Bison this season.
 
Pacific would add one more goal in the 90th minute, as Jaida Nyby connected on a cross that went in on Nyby's collision with Wilkinson in front of the goal.
 
The teams finished the game even on shot attempts at 10 each, but Pacific had seven shots on target, while the Bison finished with just two. Wilkinson finished the game with two saves, while the Bison defense also had a save. Pacific had seven corners to four for the Bison in the contest.
 
North Dakota State will be back in action on Sunday, as the Bison take on Dixie State for the first time in program history on Sunday. Kickoff between NDSU and the Trailblazers is set for 11 a.m. (10 a.m. MT) at the Boas Soccer Complex on the campus of Boise State. The game will be aired on the Mountain West Digital Network.