CHENEY, Wash. – With the Eastern Washington University women's soccer squad remaining unbeaten in the Big Sky Conference, they prepare to face Portland State this Friday, Oct. 25 at 1 p.m. Pacific time. After the match, the squad travels to Sacramento, Calif., on Sunday, Oct. 27 to face Sacramento State at 12 p.m. PT.
The Eagles shut out Southern Utah last Friday and Northern Arizona last Sunday, out-scoring them a total of 5-0. The team ended the weekend having qualified for the Big Sky Tournament for the sixth-straight year with three conference matches to go.
HOW TO WATCH
Friday's match against Portland State can be streamed for free on Pluto TV Ch. 532 or on
Watch Big Sky and followed via the
live stats.
Sunday's match at Sacramento State can be streamed for free Pluto TV Ch. 533 or on
Watch Big Sky and fans can follow the
live stats here.
A LOOK AT THE EAGLES
The Eagles currently have an overall record of 8-5-2 and an unbeaten Big Sky Conference record of 5-0-1. They are ranked second in the conference behind Montana, who has a conference record of 5-0-2, and ahead of Northern Colorado who has a conference record of 4-2-2.
Eastern is on a five-game winning streak with four shutouts in their last four matches, out-scoring their opponents 12-1. They have scored a total of 24 goals this season with seven of them being game-winners and 15 of them being assisted by a teammate. The Eagles have only allowed two goals in conference play and have scored a total of 13 with four game-winners.
As a team, the Eagles are ranked second overall for goals scored behind Sacramento State who has 25.
Brooke Flores is tied for second for game-winning goals,
Saige Lyons is ranked third for assists and
Sariah Keister is ranked second for goals scored in the conference.
Keister continues to lead the team with six goals as
Brooke Dunbar is close behind with four goals and two assists.
Lyons leads the team in assists with four and
Taylor Matheny has three assists and two goals.
Brittany Delridge has scored three goals this season and
Mya Elder-Hammond and Flores each have recorded two.
Kelsee Winston has totaled 1,408 minutes in net for the Eagles with 54 total saves and five shutouts. Winston has faced 162 shots, allowing only 18 goals, and is currently ranked first all-time for career shutouts in EWU history with 13. Winston hasn't conceded a goal for 386:07 minutes as the last goal allowed was against Idaho at home back on Oct. 6.
KNOWING YOUR OPPONENT – PORTLAND STATE
Portland State has an overall record of 4-12-0 and a conference record of 3-4-0. They are currently ranked sixth in the Big Sky following two losses last weekend against Northern Colorado, 3-1, and Montana, 4-0.
The Vikings are coached by Katie Burton who enters her third season as head coach. As a team, they have scored a total of 14 goals with 13 assists and have allowed 31. Freshman Sienna Higinbotham leads the squad with five goals and one assist and junior Rilee Castilla has scored four goals this season.
PSU's goalkeeper Enya Hernandez has played 1,360 minutes and has recorded 77 saves with two shutouts thus far. She has faced 263 total shots and has a .755 save percentage.
SERIES HISTORY – PORTLAND STATE
Eastern has an overall series record of 9-12-2 with a three-game winning streak versus the Vikings, as
Chad Bodnar is 4-1-1 against PSU since being at the helm.
The Eagles are undefeated in their last five matches against the Vikings with a 4-0-1 record since 2014.
Last season when the Eagles faced the Vikings, the match ended 3-2 in EWU's favor. In 2017, EWU defeated PSU in conference play, 3-0, and then again in the conference tournament, 2-1, to advance to the title game.
KNOWING YOUR OPPONENT – SACRAMENTO STATE
Sacramento State currently has a 15 match unbeaten streak and an overall record of 9-1-6 with a conference record of 3-0-4. They are coached by Randy Dedini, who enters his 13th season as head coach, and is coming off of a 1-0 win over Northern Colorado last Sunday. SAC is currently ranked fourth in the conference and will compete against Idaho this Friday, Oct. 25 before hosting Eastern on Sunday, Oct. 27.
As a team, they have scored 25 goals and have allowed 12, with a 1.56 goals per game average. Junior Kylee Kim-Bustillos leads the team with nine goals and three assists and has four game-winners while junior Ariana Nino has scored five goals and two assists with two goals being game-winners. Junior Aubrey Goodwill leads the team in assists with seven and senior Camilia Fonseca has scored three goals and has one assist.
Junior goalkeeper Aaliyah Fesili has started all 16 games, racking up 1,560 minutes and 84 saves on the season. She has eight shutouts to lead the conference and a .875 save percentage.
SERIES HISTORY – SACRAMENTO STATE
The Eagles have an all-time series record of 8-11-3 with with
Chad Bodnar being 3-2-1 versus SAC since becoming head coach.
Last season, the Eagles lost to the Hornets at home, 1-0 in their first conference match of season. The year before, Eastern tied Sacramento State 0-0 at home and in 2016 the Eagles defeated the Hornets 1-0 on the road.
WHAT'S NEXT
After the weekend matches, Eastern returns home for its final conference match facing Montana on Oct. 30 at 1 p.m. Pacific time at the EWU Soccer Field.
The Eagles are waiting to be seeded for the Big Sky Conference Tournament as it will begin Nov. 6-10 in Greeley, Colo.
