CHENEY, Wash. – The Eastern Washington University soccer team defeated Montana 1-0 today (Oct. 15) in their last regular season home game to remain undefeated in the Big Sky Conference. With this victory, EWU improves to 12-4-1 overall and 6-0-1 in the conference.
This win marks the longest unbeaten streak at home in program history with seven games in a row. The Eagles have stayed unbeaten for nine games, which is second in program history and also marks the longest unbeaten streak in Big Sky competition through the Eagles' seven games. This shutout also marks the eighth shutout for EWU, which ties the program record for most shutouts in a season.
Seventeen seconds into the game, senior Delaney Romero took a shot on goal and the Grizzlies made a team save, but then it was deflected off a Montana defender into the upper 90, giving Eastern a 1-0 lead right away. The goal ended up being the only score of the game.
"It was a different kind of result for us today, obviously. I have to credit Montana, they came out with a lot of energy. We started the match well in the first minute and put some pressure on the backs and ended up getting that own goal, which was a huge lift for us. I would say that the next 44 minutes, Montana took it to us in the attacking third. Credit to our backline for staying stingy during that period," said head coach Chad Bodnar. "We played a lot better in the second half but still had to lock it down defensively as there were a lot of balls played into our box."
In the first half, Montana took six shots on goal but none of those were able to go past senior goalkeeper Emily Busselman. The Eagles were able to get one shot off in the first half of play.
Entering halftime, EWU was up 1-0 but was being outshot 10-1.
In the second half, the Eagles only allowed one shot on goal for the Grizzlies with Busselman making the key save. Eastern was able to tally five more shots with senior Chloe Williams leading the team with two.
The Grizzlies ended up outshooting EWU 15-6, which was the first time Eastern has been outshot all season.
Claire Howard was in net for Montana and falls 7-6-2 on the year. Busselman improves to 10-1-1 this season.
Win-Loss Record
EWU finishes with a 9-1-1 record at home this year. Their lone loss was against CSUN on Sept. 10.
Montana falls to 9-7-2 overall with a 4-3-1 conference record. The Grizzlies series record against EWU now falls to 14-6-1 overall. They are now sitting in third place behind Portland State in the conference.
What it Means
The Eagles extend their lead in the Big Sky Conference with 19 points overall and is the only undefeated team left in the conference. Portland State, who EWU shut out 3-0 on Friday, is in second place with 15 points.
Keys to the Game
The defense held strong as the Grizzlies attacked the goal throughout the entire game, but the team did not allow any goals.
Top Performers
Emily Busselman collected her third shutout in a row and her sixth one overall. The defense overall helped collect Eastern's eighth shutout on the year despite facing 16 shots. She tallied a career-high seven saves, six of which were in the first half.
Notables
Head coach Chad Bodnar's overall home record improves to 27-7-6 since he took over in 2014. He now improves to 2-3-0 against the Grizzlies.
Bodnar Bites
On only taking one shot in the first half: When you're playing teams that are dangerous like Montana is, when you get ahead you don't have to open yourself up as much and we definitely didn't do that. I'd like to see us keep the ball a little bit more in our possession. I want to credit our kids because we had to make a few halftime adjustments. That was a different kind of win for us, there was a lot of heart and a lot of organization and defending.
On picking up two more wins in Big Sky play: This weekend's results show that we're a kind of group that wants to get things done. We played two solid teams this weekend and fortunately for us it fell at home, which always helps. We've got three games left to play and a lot of work to do to host this tournament, which is what I know our group wants to do. We're going to enjoy this today and get back to work tomorrow.
On the senior class: This group of seniors has done a lot for us and I know they want to do more. It's taken a lot of hard work for them in the off season and it's a group that's collectively together, and that's hard sometimes when you have a team of 30 people. Our players coming off of the bench did a lot for us today. Maia hasn't played a lot and she gets thrown in in the last five minutes and clears out two big balls for us, it's the whole group. This is a special group, but again the season isn't over and there's a lot of work left to be where we want to be.
What's Next
The Eagles close out the regular season on the road against Idaho State on Oct. 20, Weber State on Oct. 22 and Idaho on Oct. 27. The Big Sky Conference Championship is set for Nov. 1-5 at the site of the regular season champion.
