CHENEY, Wash. –The regular season comes to its conclusion for the Eastern Washington University women's soccer team against Montana on Friday, Oct. 28, as the team has a chance to reclaim first place in the Big Sky on its senior day.

The Eagles will host UM at the EWU soccer field, starting at 2:30 p.m. Pacific Time. Last weekend Eastern split two matches with a 3-2 loss against Northern Arizona and a 6-1 victory at North Dakota, improving its record to 11-3-3 and 5-2-2 in the BSC.

With the regular season title hanging in the balance, a victory for Eastern could be an important factor in the upcoming Big Sky Conference Championships. Although Eastern returns home after its best offensive performance of the season, it will not be an easy matchup. Montana's place in the tournament bracket is still in jeopardy, and its defense has responded with a series of inspired performances. The Grizzlies have completed three straight shutouts, and have four in their last five games.

Last Time Out
EWU lit up the scoreboard on the road against North Dakota improving, setting three single-game school records in a 6-1 win on Sunday, Oct. 23. After a 1-1 tie in the first 20 minutes, the Eagle offense let loose against the UND's defensive unit. Delaney Romero took back the Eastern lead with a goal in the 21st minute, followed by a goal from Jenny Chavez. Chloe Williams closed out the first half with her second goal of the evening and a 4-1 lead. Two more goals from Devan Talley and Brooke Dunbar in the second half would cap off the 6-1 victory.

All-Time Series
Montana leads the 19-game series against Eastern with a 13-5-1 record. In the last matchup, UM hosted EWU and took the 2-1 victory in double-overtime. The Eagles have a chance to break the Grizzlies' current six- game series winning streak.

Record Setting Weekend
In Sunday's game against the Fighting Hawks, Eastern set two new program records and tied another. The team's six goals was a new single-game high for the program, as well as the 15 corner kicks they took. The five-point margin of victory was also tied for the largest in school history. The previous occurrence was a 5-0 win against Lamar on Aug. 31, 2007.

The Eagles also came close on two other records. Their 35 shots was good for third most all-time, while the 17 shots on goal was tied for the second most in program history.

Getting the Whole Team Involved
Despite exploding for six goals, Sunday's match was one of the offenses most balanced in terms of output.  Five different players scored a goal, while a total of seven players recorded a point. Three players scored both a goal and an assist. Junior Chloe Williams led the team with five points on two goals and one shot. Junior Delaney Romero had a goal and an assist on five shots, and freshman Brooke Dunbar also had one goal and one assist.

Sophomore Allison Raniere had the only multi-assist performance with two, and junior Aimie Inthoulay also had an assist. Sophomore Devan Talley was near the goal all game with one score on seven shots and five on goal. Sophomore Jenny Chavez scored as well.

Senior Day
The Eagles will be honoring four seniors on its senior day; goalkeeper Mallory Taylor, midfielder Paige Gallaway, midfielder Kiana Hafferty, and forward Ua Ruedy.

Taylor, in her second year as the starting goalkeeper has already supplanted herself in the EWU record books. She has set the program record for most minutes played in a season by over 100 minutes at 1,808:01, winning percentage in a season at .711, and is second in shutouts at 5. In her career, Taylor is top-ten in total saves and minutes played. She has 7 career shutouts, ranked third.

Hafferty has recorded four goals and nine points in three years at Eastern. She has started 13 games. This season Hafferty has two goals, including the game-winner in the 1-0 win at Sacramento State In her four years with the team, Gallaway has three goals and seven points with 11 starts. Ruedy has played in 36 games in her four year career and has one goal and three points.

Redshirt juniors Taylor Lang and Laci Rennaker will also be honored with the four seniors.

Title Chasing
At a 5-2-2 record in the Big Sky, EWU is tied for second in the league standings. Eastern only sits one game back from league-leading Idaho at 6-1-2 record. The Eagles own the tie breaker over the Vandals after beating them 2-1 earlier in the season should the teams tie at 6-2-2. This would give EWU hosting rights, but would share the regular season title with UI. Also in second place is Sacramento State riding the momentum of a four-game winning streak. Idaho will play Idaho state on Friday, Oct. 28 and CSUS will matchup with Portland State.

Team Leaders
Leading the team in points is Chloe Williams with 31 on 13 goals and five assists. Her 13 goals are good for an eighth place tie in the national rankings, and her 31 point is tied for 12th in the nation. She leads the BSC in point by 11 and goals by four. Williams is also tied for third in the conference for assists, behind team and conference leader Aimie Inthoulay. With ten assists on the season, Inthoulay not only leads the team, but is also tied for fourth in the nation. She scored her first goal of the season against Northern Colorado, and is second on the team with 12 points.

Delaney Romero is third on the team in points with 11 on four goals and two assists. In the last two games, Romero has five points, scoring a goal in both games. Allison Raniere is second on the team with five assists, as she has tallied three in the past two games.

Big Sky Statistics
Eastern currently leads the Big Sky in goals scored with 38, and is tied first in assists with 32. As a result, the team leads the conference with 108 points. EWU also leads the conference in corner kicks by a large margin at 109, compared to 93 for the second ranked team. They are also tied second in shutouts at six.

Knowing Your Opponent: Montana
On the season, Montana owns a 8-5-5 record and a 4-2-3 record in the BSC. Over its last stretch of five games, the Grizzly defense has recorded four shutouts and a 3-0-2 record. In total, UM has nine shutouts, leading the conference by three. Montana finished the 2015 season at 9-11-2 and 5-4-1 in league play. Head coach Mark Plakorus is in his sixth year with the program and has a 54-48-20 record.

The Grizzlies returned all 11 starters to its squad this season, with only two newcomers. Sophomore Hallie Widner leads the team with 11 points on four goals and three assists this season.