LA GRANDE, Ore. – Two first half goals had Lady Argo soccer briefly ahead of Eastern Oregon University, but the only goal of the second half was EOU's and made the difference in a 3-2 UP loss. Eastern Oregon largely controlled the game, but the Lady Argos took advantage of its few chances to almost get a win or a tie.
 
The first half was a wild 45 minutes. Twice UP took a 1 goal lead only to have EOU answer within five minutes.
 
Starting the first of those two sequences was the fifth goal of the season for sophomore Eme McLaughlin. The Great Falls native got an unassisted score in the sixth minute to give the Lady Argos an early 1-0 lead.
 
EOU put the pressure on after that. In the next five minutes, the Mountaineers had 2 corner kicks and 1 shot on goal. Then in the 11th minute, a shot from Camie Edginton tied the game at 1-1.
 
Continuing the back-and-forth battle, junior Sydney Knieriem received a pass from junior Malena Lennon and scored for the second straight game to give UP the lead back.
 
This time it only took a minute for the Mountaineers to answer back with a goal from Natalie Mitchell in the 15th minute.
 
Play settled down from there in terms of goals, but EOU kept some constant pressure on the Lady Argos. The Mountaineers had 4 shots on goal in the final 27 minutes of the first half. UP had a few looks, including a shot on goal from junior Sarah Howell, but wasn't as dangerous as EOU.
 
The second half was all Mountaineers and could have gotten ugly if not for a great effort from freshman goalkeeper Dakota Neumann. In the final 45 minutes of play, EOU outshot the Lady Argos 18-0, including 9 shots on goal.
 
During that span, Neumann made 8 saves and kept the Lady Argos in the game even after EOU scored on a free kick in the 54th minute.
 
In the end, Neumann finished with a career-high 15 saves.
 
With the loss, UP record goes to 3-5 (2-2) on the year. The Lady Argos return home next for a game against the College of Idaho on Friday, October 6 at 4:30 p.m.