OGDEN, Utah—No. 6 Eastern Washington faced off against No. 3 Northern Colorado today (Oct. 31) in the first round of the Big Sky Conference Tournament which was held in Ogden, Utah. Eastern got on the board first, but fell 3-1.
"We came out in the start of the game well, but after the goal we kind of dropped off a little bit and sat deep. We let Northern Colorado run at us and I think we were a little unlucky at the start of the second half with the way that shook out. Overall, these kids have fought hard and have come back to qualify for the tournament. Hats off to the seniors, they have done a lot of things here during their time at Eastern," said head coach
Chad Bodnar.
Eastern scored first in the ninth minute of play off of a header from
Jenny Chavez, served in from
Emma Vanderhyden to give Eastern a 1-0 lead.
Grace Klinkenberg saw an opportunity for another goal in the 11
th minute of play but her shot was saved by UNC's goalie Taylor Washington, her first of the match.
UNC netted the equalizer in the 28
th minute of play from Cara Quinn with the assist from Lexi Pulley to even the score.
After 45 minutes of play the score remained tied at 1-1. The Eagles outshot the Bears eight to five with four shots on goal. Eastern took two corner kicks in the first half and keeper
Kelsee Winston recorded one save for the Eagles.
Moments into the second half, UNC drew a foul in the box and Mariel Gutierrez capitalized on the penalty kick to give Northern Colorado its first lead of the match.
In the 76
th minute UNC's Gutierrez scored another insurance goal for the Bears, extending their lead to 3-1.
The Eagles were unable to respond and fell to Northern Colorado, 3-1.
Win-Loss Record
The Eagles ended the 2018-19 season with an overall record of 8-8-3 and 4-4-1 in Big Sky play. The Bears now rise to an overall record of 11-7-1.
Notables
Kelsee Winston recorded 90 total minutes in the net for the Eagles in today's match and had four saves.
Jenny Chavez's goal in today's game marked her sixth goal of the season and the 23rd of her career, which is second all-time in program history.