PORTLAND, Ore. – The Eastern Washington University soccer team competed against Portland State today (Oct. 25) which ended in a 4-1 victory over the Vikings. The Eagles had four different goal scorers as they advance to 6-0-1 in the Big Sky Conference.

"It's always difficult to play in this stadium on the turf against a team that likes to play direct. I thought we had some quality goals from people today and we were pretty good in the middle of the park to handle a wet turf surface," said head coach Chad Bodnar. "In the second half, our team managed the game well and did what we needed to do. Overall, a good performance from our group in a tough environment on the road."

Portland State felt the pressure right away as goalkeeper Enya Hernandez faced a shot in the second minute from EWU forward Sariah Keister. The ball was headed for the bottom left corner, but Hernandez reached out and saved the ball from touching the back of the net.

Six minutes later, the Eagles found their first goal. The goal came in the eighth minute after an EWU corner kick and was scored by left back McKaley Goffard to mark her first goal of the season.

The Eagles fought to keep the momentum on their side, but the Vikings managed to tie the game in the 17th minute. The goal came for PSU when redshirt freshman Natalia Blanco kicked the ball into the back of the net from an assist by sophomore Sofi Papastamos.

As the score remained tied 1-1, Saige Lyons, a senior forward for the Eagles, attempted to gain the lead with two back-to-back shots but one was saved and the other sailed high over the crossbar.

Lyons would have her contribution as the second goal for Eastern came in the 26th minute when she delivered the ball to redshirt sophomore Kendall Pope, who came off the bench, as Pope slotted the ball in the net and helped the Eagles gain back the lead. The score turned 2-1 in Eastern Washington's favor.

After the goal, Portland State put up four shots to try and gain some leverage, but EWU scored a third goal right before halftime. In the 40th minute, freshman Maddie Morgan took the ball by herself and scored to turn the score 3-1.

As the halftime whistle blew, the score remained 3-1 in EWU's favor.

Returning from the locker room, the Eagles attempted to widen their lead with a shot in the 46th minute from freshman Madison Kem and in the 47th minute from Maddie Morgan but they were both saved by Hernandez.

Following these attempts, the Eagles put up 10 more shots, forcing PSU to make five saves, before finding their fourth goal. The goal came in the 87th minute following a foul in the box by Hernandez that resulted in a penalty kick for EWU.

Kem stepped up to the challenge and booted the ball pass the keeper and into the net as the match ended in a 4-1 victory for the Eagles.  

Win Loss Records

EWU's overall record moves to 9-5-2 with an unbeaten conference record of 6-0-1 while PSU falls to 4-13-0 with a conference record of 3-5-0. The Eagles are undefeated in their last six matches against the Vikings with a 5-0-1 record since 2014, as the series now moves to 10-12-2 all-time for EWU.

Top Performances

Maddie Morgan, Madison Kem, Kendall Pope and McKaley Goffard each scored one goal in today's match while Saige Lyons had one assist. Sariah Keister, Mya Elder-Hammond and Brooke Dunbar each took three shots and Kelsee Winston made four saves in the match.

Key Stats

Eastern outshot Portland State 22-9 with 15 shots on target versus PSU's five. EWU had ten different players take at least one shot and the Eagles took seven corner kicks to PSU's zero.

What's Next

Eastern Washington concludes its road trip this Sunday when they take on Sacramento State in Sacramento, Calif., at 12 p.m. Pacific time.

The Eagles have already qualified for their sixth-straight Big Sky Conference tournament, and can clinch their second regular season title in the last three seasons if they pick up a win at Sacramento State and Montana draws or loses to Northern Colorado. Should neither result happen, the Eagles and Griz will face off for a regular season title on Wednesday, Oct. 30, at the EWU Soccer Field at 1 p.m.