CHENEY, Wash. – The Eastern Washington University women's soccer team lost 2-0 to CSUN today (Sept. 10) in its second straight home match. With this loss, EWU falls to 4-4-0 while CSUN improves to 3-1-4.
"I think it is pretty simple for us, we didn't put the ball in the back of the net today," head coach Chad Bodnar said. "We created chances and at the end of the day you have to score goals to win."
In the first half, both CSUN and Eastern came out aggressive as Ariana Tran from CSUN took the first shot on goal just 26 seconds into the game while senior M'Kenna Hayes also put a shot on goal for the Eagles in the first minute.
Eastern had a few more chances as they had three corner kicks within four minutes, but they were not able to get a shot off of the opportunities.
In the 13th minute, CSUN got on the scoreboard with a goal from Marissa Favela who took a shot inside the box to put the Matadors up 1-0.
The Eagles kept outshooting CSUN throughout the first half with four shots from senior Chloe Williams, but could not notch one in net as Eastern entered halftime down 1-0, although they were outshooting CSUN 12-5.
Allison Raniere took the first shot for the Eastern Washington in the second half in the 51st minute, but goalkeeper Jovani McCaskill came up with the save.
EWU had five more corner kicks, but could were not able to cash in on the opportunities.
In the 83rd minute, CSUN was able to score another goal to increase their lead to 2-0 after a ball played from a goal kick deflected off of Amy Aquino and bounced right back into the goal. The Eagles were not able to respond as they fell by a final score of 2-0.
Eastern has currently outshot every opponent so far this year as they outshot CSUN 25-12, when the Matadors usually average 13 shots a game. The Eagles also had nine corner kicks while CSUN had only three.
Williams led the team in shots with eight, two of them being on goal. Right behind her was Raniere who had seven shots.
McCaskill was in net for CSUN the whole 90 minutes and had six saves, improving to 3-1-4. Emily Busselman was also in net for the whole competition and notched five saves. This was Busselman's first loss of the season, falling 3-1-0.
"I thought we defended pretty well," Bodnar added. "We gave up one goal in the first half and the second goal they got was pretty fluky, but those things happen. We have to continue to get better and we are looking forward to next week."
Win-Loss Record
Eastern Washington is now 4-4-0 on the year, while CSUN improves to 3-1-4. The Matadors lead the overall series 2-2-1 with the series dating back to 1998.
What it Means
With this shutout, this is the first time the Eagles have not scored at home since Oct. 18, 2015 when EWU lost to Southern Utah, 1-0.
Keys to the Game
Eight different EWU student-athletes took a shot in the competition, with four recording shots on goal.
The Eagles were aggressive on both sides of the ball as they had nine corner kicks and held CSUN to only 12 shots.
Top Performers
Defender M'Kenna Hayes was present on both sides of the field as she had three shots during the game.
Chloe Williams led the team in shots with eight, with two of those being on goal.
Allison Raniere also made a presence on the offense side as she had seven shots and two on goal.
Notables
The Eagles have been able to outshoot their opponent in every game so far this year.
This loss now puts coach Chad Bodnar career home record to 21-7-5 since he took over in 2014.
What's Next
The Eagles continue their home streak as they take on Nevada on Friday, Sept. 15 at 3:30 p.m. The team also plays Farleigh Dickinson the following Sunday at 1 p.m. Both games are at the EWU Soccer Field and are complimentary to the public.
