CHENEY, Wash. --The Eastern Washington University women's soccer team takes to the road for the first time in 2016, as they'll travel to Las Vegas to participate in two matches this weekend against UC Davis and UNLV. The Eagles face Aggies for game number one on August 26 starting at 4 p.m. PST, followed by the concluding match against the host Rebels on Sunday, August 28, starting at 1 p.m. PST.
The Eagles could not have asked for a better start to its 2016 campaign as they stand at a perfect 2-0-0 after back-to-back wins in thrilling fashion at home against Grand Canyon and Utah State. In the season opener against the Lopes, Chloe Williams scored a golden-goal in the 95th minute to give EWU the 1-0 victory, and against USU this past Monday, junior Savannah Hoekstra recorded just the third hat trick in school history and scored her final goal in the 89th minute to seal a 3-2 win over the Aggies.
Last Time Out
With the energy still high after junior Chloe Williams' golden goal in the 1-0 overtime victory against Grand Canyon just a few days before, EWU pulled off a fantastic offensive performance in its 3-2 win over Utah State on August 22.
 The victory can be attributed in large part to junior Savannah Hoekstra's hat trick against the Aggies. Over the 90 minute affair, she scored all three of the Eagles' goals, with two of them going in unassisted. After a USU scored the equalizer in the 73rd minute, the match came down to the end of regulation. With the clock ticking and the final minute approaching, Hoekstra strung together a pair of impressive touches to get into the 18-yard box. Once there, she targeted her shot towards to the far side of the goal and beat the Utah State goalie to score the game winner with just a minute left on the clock.
All-Time Series
UC Davis: Friday's contest will be just the third time EWU has met UC Davis on the pitch. The Eagles will hope to eliminate the current trend as they sit 0-2-0 against the Aggies. It was last year when the teams played last, as the 3-0 match in favor of UC Davis handed Eastern its first loss of the 2015 season.
UNLV: The match on Sunday will be the first time EWU and UNLV have fielded soccer teams against each other.
Down to the Wire
While the 2016 season is still in its infancy, a trend has marked EWU's first two matches. It has taken until the final minute of regulation, or even past it, to determine a winner. Against Grand Canyon, it was not until the fifth minute of overtime that the scoreless tie would break when junior Aimie Inthoulay sent a corner kick into the far side of the 18-yard box, where sophomore Jenny Chavez flicked the ball in front of the goal and Chloe Williams sunk it into the net.
Against Utah State, the victory was sealed in the 89th minute when Savannah Hoekstra created her own scoring opportunity for a clutch go-ahead goal. It has felt like a season's worth of drama in just two matches, and there should be plenty of exciting finishes to come as the season progresses.
Hoekstra Makes History
By scoring three times on Monday, junior Savannah Hoekstra joins Whitney Brannan and Cassie Black as the only players to every record a hat trick at Eastern Washington. Brannan was the first to accomplish the feat at South Dakota State on Sept. 19, 2010, while Black was the last EWU player to score three goals in one game back on Oct. 5, 2013 against North Dakota. It is also the 38th hat trick recorded in Big Sky history.
Knowing Your Opponent: UC Davis
The Aggies are coming off a 10-7-2 record last year, while going 3-4-1 in the Big West conference. Their head coach Twila Kaufman will be entering her third year with the program. UC Davis has gotten off to a 1-1-0 start this year after beating Sonoma State 2-1 on August 19 and falling to Florida Gulf Coast 1-0 on August 21.
The Aggies will be sporting a young team, as they feature only four seniors and four juniors on the roster, while it also features 22 underclassmen, including 13 newcomers. While the team lost its top goal scorer Rachel Smith (5 goals, 10 points), it still has sophomore forward Crystal Crump who scored four goals and tallied nine points in her freshman year last season.
Knowing Your Opponent: UNLV
The rebels are coming off a 2015 campaign that saw them finish 11-10-0 and 6-5-0 in the Mountain West conference. Their head coach Chris Shaw is in his third year, having gone 20-18-2 with UNLV thus far. The team has begun its season 2-0-0 with victories over Farleigh Dickinson on August 19 and a dominant 6-0 win over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on August 21.
The Rebels returned eight starters from last season and are brought in nine newcomers. Of the three starters lost, two were the last year's highest scorers. Redshirt freshman Michaela Morris has started her season at a ridiculous pace, scoring four goals on just five shots.
For more information on the Eastern Washington women's soccer team, follow @EWUSoccer on Twitter.
