CHENEY, Wash. – For the third season in a row, the Eastern Washington University soccer team opens its season with back-to-back home games, as they host CSU Bakersfield and Seattle University at the EWU Soccer Field. The first game against CSU Bakersfield begins at 4 p.m. on Aug. 17 while the contest against Seattle U starts at 1 p.m. on Aug. 19. All home matches are complimentary and open to the public.
Eastern is coming off another historical season, as the team was crowned the Big Sky Tournament Champions for the second year in a row and went on to play their second NCAA Postseason game against previous year's opponent USC. EWU finished the year 16-6-1 overall and 8-1-1 in the Big Sky to finish first in the conference standings. With 18 returners back on the pitch, expectations are high this season for Eastern Washington, as they enter the fifth year under Chad Bodnar ranked as the No. 1 team in the Big Sky Preseason Poll.
These two games will spark the start to many home field advantage games for the Eagles this year, as they will be hosting 10 home matches. Eastern is 22-8-2 (.719) at home since Bodnar took over in 2014.
Bodnar welcomes two new coaches to his team, associate head coach Pete Showler and assistant coach Brianna Smallidge. Both coaches come to EWU with an abundant amount of soccer knowledge and experience and look to help pave way to the team's third Big Sky Tournament title.
Looking forward to the first game against CSU Bakersfield, Bodnar will go for his 50th win as head coach of the Eagles. Under the leadership of Bodnar, the team has finished top five in the Big Sky Conference the last three seasons, and has an overall record of 49-24-8 since he started coaching at Eastern in 2014.
The Returners
After losing three-time Big Sky Offensive MVP and the conference's all-time leader in points (109) and goals (44), Chloe Williams and 13 others, EWU looks to returning seniors; Jenny Chavez, Allison Raniere, Megan Spataro, Alexis Stephenson, and Devan Talley to lead their team to their third straight title this upcoming 2018 season.
Chavez, who is tied for third all-time in the EWU record book in career goals scored with 17, is back for her final season in the midfield. She earned first-team All-Big Sky honors last season after ranking second on the team with eight goals.
Talley started all 21 matches she appeared in last season and tied for second on the team with four assists and scored three goals on the year.
Raniere saw playing time in 23 games and made seven starts for the Eagles last season. She ranked fourth on the team with four assists and fifth with 10 points overall. Raniere took 47 shots throughout the 2017 season to rank second on the team.
The Eagles welcome back Big Sky Honorable Mention selection Grace Klinkenberg. As a freshman, she anchored the backline at the center back position and appeared in all 23 matches last season, starting in 18.
The Eagles also return a solid number of veterans on the front line in Brooke Dunbar and Saige Lyons.
Lyons contributed to last season's success with four goals, while Dunbar returns for her junior season after starting nine matches and scoring one goal last year.
Sophomores McKaley Goffard and Taylor Matheny also return for the Eagles.
Other notable returning midfielders are sophomores
Sariah Keister and
Emma Vanderhyden, who both contributed great success to the team's 2017 Big Sky Championship title. As a freshman, Vanderhyden scored the game-winning goal in overtime at North Dakota and tied for second on the team with four assists.
Maia Inniss also returns to the Eagles for her redshirt junior year, ready to defend last year's title on the backline.
Eastern returns two goalkeepers in
Hadley Bezon and
Kelsee Winston, while welcoming junior transfer
Ryann Rydeen from Minnesota State.
Bezon saw action in two games last season, starting both and logging 122 minutes in net. The junior picked up the victory in Eastern's season-opening 5-1 win over Omaha last year.
Winston earned a Big Sky Player Defensive Player of the Week nod and appeared in six matches during the 2017 season, logging over 372 minutes in net. Winston made 14 saves and allowed eight goals throughout her freshman season with the Eagles.
The Newcomers
After a busy offseason recruiting, Eastern welcomes 18 newcomers to the program and all are expected to help the Eagles soar into the new season.
The new Eagles include midfielder
Kaelyn Barnes, defender
Janae Lee, midfielder
Bailee Nelson, defender
Ashley Valdivieso, defender
Brooke Asbury, defender
Mya Elder-Hammond, midfielder
Nicole Bumgarner, midfielder
Colby Wilson, forward
Glory Smith, midfielder
Mareonna Henderson, midfielder
Vanessa Jones, midfielder
Cameron Kieneker, forward
Megan Drake, midfielder
Ariana Escobedo, defender
Sydney Douglas, and forward
Annabelle Hall.
Bodnar and his team also bring on forward
Kendall Pope, a redshirt freshman transfer from Portland State, in addition to Rydeen.
In addition, midfielder
Brittany Delridge and defender
Brittany Wiehe return after redshirting their freshmen seasons.
All-Time Series
CSU Bakersfield: This is Eastern's seventh time taking on CSU Bakersfield. During the 2016 season the Eagles traveled to California to take on the Roadrunners and the contest ended with an Eagles win of 3-1. CSU Bakersfield finished their 2017 season with an overall record of 6-12-1.
Seattle University: The Eagles are searching for their first victory over Seattle U, as the Redhawks own the all-time series 7-0-0. The two teams last faced off on Sept. 5, 2014 where EWU dropped the contest 4-1.
Season-Opening Matches
2018 marks the 21st season for women's soccer at Eastern Washington. EWU is 5-14-1 all-time in season openers. Friday's contest against CSU Bakersfield is also just the sixth time in program history that Eastern opens its season in Cheney.
Knowing Your Opponent: CSU Bakersfield
CSU Bakersfield is coming off an exhibition game in which they played Master's University Aug. 10 at CSU Bakersfield. The team won 2-1 over Master's University when redshirt-junior Aminah Settles scored their first goal of the game, followed by sophomore Sophie Freeman's goal four minutes later. The Roadrunners all-time record is 143-224-47, since their first season in 1996. The Roadrunners return 20 letterwinners this season, and welcome nine newcomers.
The Roadrunners went 6-12-1 overall in their 2017 season, and finished seventh in the WAC conference with a record of 1-5-1. CSU Bakersfield welcomes first year head coach Sebastian Vecchio. He becomes only the fifth head coach in the Roadrunners program history. Vecchio and his team were picked to finish seventh in the WAC preseason coaches' poll. The game against the Eagles is their first regular season match.
Knowing Your Opponent: Seattle University
Seattle University finished last season with a 9-8-4 overall record, with two home wins. The team was also recently picked third in the 2018 WAC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
Seattle U's defenders Rachel Bowler and Hannah Carrothers have been named Preseason All-WAC Team. The team hosted two exhibition games which opened their 2018 season. The first match against Highline College resulted in a draw of 0-0, followed by Trinity Western where the Seattle U. lost 2-1.
The Redhawks return 17 players and introduce 12 newcomers to their team.
Seattle U will be back on their home turf when they face Cal State Fullerton Aug. 26, 2018.
How to Watch: Pluto TV
All home soccer matches will be streamed for free via Pluto TV. To watch live events from the Big Sky Conference download the Pluto TV app and tune to Channel 234. For mobile and tablet, the Pluto TV app is available on iPhone and iPad from the App Store and on Android devices from Google Play. The Pluto TV app is also available on any connected living room device such as Roku, Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV, PlayStation or Xbox as well as most smart TVs, including those from Samsung, Vizio, Sony and Hisense. Additionally, Pluto TV can be accessed via web at pluto.tv/watch.
