CHENEY, Wash.—The Eastern Washington University women's soccer team hosted Idaho State today (Oct. 14) to a victory of 8-1 on Senior Day. The 8-1 win is the largest margin of victory in program history, topping a 5-0 victory against Lamar back on Aug. 31, 2007.

Seven different players scored eight goals for the Eagles today, setting a program record for goals scored in a single match. The previous record was six, scored at North Dakota on Oct. 23, 2016. The eight goals were also the most ever scored by any team in a Big Sky Conference match and the fifth-most overall in conference history.

The Eagles also had five players dish six assists, tying a program record for assists in a single match (ties with match at North Dakota on Oct. 23, 2016). Additionally, the 22 points tallied by EWU is also a school record, beating the previous record of 18 (at North Dakota, Oct. 23, 2016).

"We broke the seal early and continued to go forward. We always knew this was going to come at some point, we have players that can score and today a bunch of them did," said head coach Chad Bodnar.  "The high scoring game took pressure off our defense. We scored three goals in the first half and even though we gave up one goal that was kind of sloppy, we played comfortable and more relaxed. I hope this gives us momentum going forward because we're still in this thing. Our goal every year is to make it to the tournament and have a chance to win it."

Senior Devan Talley started the match off with a goal in the ninth minute of play with the assist from fellow senior Alexis Stephenson. Talley received the pass across the box from Stephenson and was able to net the ball into the bottom corner. Talley's goal was the 11th of her career, which is eighth all-time at Eastern.

Just minutes later, senior Allison Raniere scored the Eagles' second goal of the match with the assist from Emma Vanderhyden. Raniere dribbled past her defender and netted the ball into the open goal.

Another goal in the 22nd minute of play came from senior Jenny Chavez with the assist from Raniere following Raniere's corner kick. Chavez was able to score off of the deflection in the box. The goal marked Chavez's 20th career goal (third this season) which is third all-time in career goals in program history. It also marked her 42nd career point which is fourth all-time.

Idaho State answered back in the 32nd minute of play with its lone goal from Delaney Johnston with the assist from Makena Bambei. Johnston dribbled through the defenders inside of the box and shot the ball into the bottom right corner of the net.

At halftime, the Eagles led 3-1.

Returning from halftime the Eagles wasted no time in scoring their fourth goal of the match. Vanderhyden scored her second goal of the season off of her own corner kick in the 50th minute of play.

In the 63rd minute, Sariah Keister scored her first career goal with the assist from Raniere. Keister took the ball from Raniere and shot the ball right past the ISU goalkeeper, extending Eastern's lead to 5-1.

The assist from Raniere, her second of the match, marked her 15th career assist which is third in program history. Raniere has 35 total points during her EWU career, which is tied for sixth all-time. Her two assists also ties for second all-time in school history for assists in a single match.

Following Keister's goal, Saige Lyons scored her second goal of the season in the 68th minute of play when she received the ball in the midfield, dribbled through traffic and placed the ball right past the keeper.

In the 70th minute freshman Megan Drake scored her first career goal for the Eagles with the assist from Keister. Drake dribbled through traffic and sent the ball into the bottom right corner, making the score 7-1 Eagles.

As if one goal was not enough for the freshman, Drake scored her second goal of the season in the 75th minute of play with the assist from fellow freshman Colby Wilson. Drake shot from a few yards outside of the 18-yard box and sent the ball into the upper left corner of the net.

Drake's two goals ties for fourth all-time in goals scored in a single match in school history. Her four points today is tied for 10th all-time in the EWU record books.

ISU took multiple attempts but were unable to connect for any other goals.

The game ended after 90 minutes of play. EWU outshot ISU 22-16 with 13 shots on goal and five corner kicks. The Eagles reigned victors over the Bengals 8-1 in their final regular season home match. The 13 shots on goal tied for fifth all-time in EWU history.

Goalkeeper Kelsee Winston recorded 67:54 minutes in the net for the Eagles before Hadley Bezon came in in the second half and recorded 22:06 minutes in the net. Winston had five saves with one goal allowed and Bezon had two saves and did not allow a goal.

Win-Loss Record
The Eagles are now 6-7-3 overall and 2-4-1 in Big Sky Conference play. ISU falls to 2-13-0 overall and 1-7-0 in conference play. Eastern has now won four-straight over the Bengals, as the series moves to 10-12-1 overall in ISU's favor.

Notables
Allison Raniere and Megan Drake both tallied four points today, which ties for 10th in school history for points in a single match.

Emma Vanderhyden and Sariah Keister each scored a goal and dished an assist for three points on the day. The goal and the assist for Keister were the first of the sophomore's career. Vanderhyden, also a sophomore, tallied her third career goal and fifth career assist.

Colby Wilson's assist was the first points of her Eagle career. Alexis Stephenson tallied her fifth career assist and Saige Lyons scored her eighth career goal.

What's Next
The Eagles head out for their last two matches of the regular season next week as they will be at Northern Arizona (Oct. 19) at 7 p.m. Pacific time and Southern Utah (Oct. 21) at 12 p.m. PT.

Bodnar Bites

On the Defense and Offense Clicking: "I think we've gotten better as the season has gone on. There are a lot of pieces, whether it's scoring goals moving forward or whether it's defending, but today I thought we did well on both ends of it and we had some good performances in the middle of the park too. This feels good and this is what we expect, the season has been a struggle up to this point but I think our kids still believe in themselves and we want to be in the tournament, if we're in the tournament we'll have a chance."
 
On Confidence Moving Forward: "I think our team has confidence that we can score goals now and that's something we've been waiting all season for. That being said, Northern Arizona is a great team and both places are tough to play. We have to have a really good week and use this as momentum going forward because we'll need to play well on the road."
 
On the Six Seniors: "This is a group that's done well here, they just grind. Even though things haven't gone our way this season with injuries and things that have been tough on us, they've hung in there and today we saw a group that wanted to get off to a good start. Because they did, the goals started coming and it made it easier on us."