CHENEY, Wash. – The Eastern Washington University soccer team soars to a perfect 2-0 start in Big Sky Conference play after junior Chloe Williams drained the game-winning penalty kick in the 100th minute, giving the Eagles a 2-1 victory over Idaho on Sunday, Sept. 25.

The first goal of the contest began with junior Laci Rennaker dropping in a pass to junior Delaney Romero inside the 18-yard box. This allowed the forward to stop, shoot, and find the back of the net for a 1-0 EWU lead in the 38th minute.

Dating back to their 3-1 win at South Dakota last week, the Eagle defense was holding onto a 259-minute scoreless streak until a penalty kick from UI's Elexis Schlossarek tied the match 1-1 in the 86th minute.

Both teams would stalemate in the closing minutes, sending the game into overtime. This was Eastern's fourth game that has needed an extra period to determine the outcome. With the clock winding down into the final minute of the first overtime period, it looked as if the fans would be treated with another period of action until Chloe Williams received the ball. She drove from the right side of the pitch on Vandal territory into the 18-yard box and drew a foul from the Idaho defender. EWU was awarded the penalty kick and Williams was taking the shot. She drove home the goal past the outstretched gloves of the Idaho goalkeeper, pushing the Eagles to a 2-1 nail-biting victory.

"I think we showed a lot of resiliency today as a group," said head coach Chad Bodnar. "We got down to the final four minutes, just trying to see the game through, and unfortunately someone jumps in front of the ball and hits them in the hand in the box to give Idaho a PK. Credit our kids for bouncing back. We always say we need to find a way, and they did. I was impressed with our team's effort and credit to Chloe for burying that PK to win it for us."

Williams' goal in the 100th minute tied the EWU all-time goals record at 24. She shares the honor with Cassie Black (2011-14). This is the third school record Williams has tied or broken this season after she became the all-time points leader against South Dakota.

Win-Loss Record
Eastern Washington improves to 8-1-1 and 2-0-0 in the Big Sky, while Idaho falls to 4-4-2 and 1-1-0 in the BSC.

What It Means
EWU continues its perfect play at home, extending its home record to 4-0-0, and extending its unbeaten streak to six games. The Eagles have been shown to thrive under pressure as they are now 3-0-1 in overtime matches.

Keys to the Game
In overtime, the defense held strong keeping UI to only one attempted shot in the 10 minutes of play, while allowing the EWU offense to put up four shots of its own.

Top Performers
Chloe Williams scored her seventh goal of the season on a game-winning penalty kick with 34 seconds remaining in the first period of overtime. She also tallied nine shots and put four on target.

Senior goalkeeper Mallory Taylor held the Vandals to one goal on a penalty kick and collected five saves in route to her seventh win as the goalkeeper this season.
Taylor put together a big play in the 77th minute when she left the box and beat an Idaho forward in a sprint to the ball.

Delaney Romero got Eastern on the board first in the 38th minute with her second goal of the season. She finished with two shots, putting both on goal.

Turning Point
The Eagle defense was trying to hold onto their lead for another four minutes, but an Idaho player drew a foul in scoring territory, earning a penalty kick. After Schlossarek scored the equalizer, EWU was forced to play aggressive once again and brought that mentality into overtime, setting up the eventual game-winning shot.

Team Highlights
The Eagles recorded a season-high 20 shots, outshooting Idaho's mark of 11. EWU also put eight shots on goal to UI's six. This is the fourth time this season Eastern has tallied over 15 shots in a match.

Notables
Chloe Williams continues to solidify herself in the EWU history books, after scoring a record-tying 24th career goal today. She is just one step away from owning three all-time school records in points, assists, and goals.

Williams hit her fourth game-winning goal of the season, moving her career total to nine and tying Cassie Black for the EWU all-time career record.

Williams increased her season points total to 15 and extended the EWU all-time career record to 61 points.

Mallory Taylor collects five more saves for the stat sheet, moving her career total to 116, six behind the seventh best mark in school history.

Delaney Romero's goal in the 38th minute moved her career total to five. She has 12 points in her two years with the program.

Bodnar Bites
On Selecting Chloe Williams for the PK: "Penalty kicks aren't Chloe's favorite thing to do, but when you're that player, that goal scorer, and the game is on the line we want her there. She stepped up and selecting her to finish what she started paid off. She scores a lot of goals, and she came up with a big one today."

On His Team's Performance this Weekend: "We always want to start 2-0, and this was a good weekend for us. We have a tough road trip next week at Portland State and Sacramento State, so we're going to enjoy this win tonight and get back to work on Monday."

Quotes From Chloe Williams
On Tying the Program Record in Goals: "It feels really good to tie the program's record in career goals, but I couldn't have done any of it without my teammates and coaches. It's an honor for sure, but we're not done yet. We just need to keep working. All of our goals haven't been reached yet, and we need to continue to work hard to get there."

On Taking the PK: "Honestly, I didn't have a lot of confidence going into the PK, but I'm happy that my team had the confidence in me to make it. It felt good to get that PK, especially since they tied the game on a PK towards the end of regulation. It feels really good to come out of this hard-fought game with a win."

What's Next
The Eagles leave home for a two-game road trip starting with Big Sky opponent Portland State on Friday, Sept. 30 starting at 1 p.m. PST.

For more information, and exclusive content, on the Eastern Washington soccer team, follow @EWUSoccer on Twitter.