CHENEY, Wash. – After a full 90-minute battle, the Eastern Washington University soccer team fell short to Montana today (Oct. 30) at the EWU Soccer Field to a 1-0 deficit. The 1-0 defeat hands EWU the No. 3 seed as they look to compete against Portland State in the first round of the Big Sky Conference Tournament on Nov. 6 in Greeley, Colo., at the Jackson Stadium at 11 a.m. Pacific time.  

"I thought the effort was there today, but we keep conceding goals off set pieces, like we did today. We a had a bunch of corners that gave us opportunities to finish but just didn't take our chances and they took theirs," said head coach Chad Bodnar. "It's obviously disappointing to us, but credit to Montana. At the end of the day we got into the conference tournament and that is what matters. We have a chance to go to the NCAA Tournament from there."

The Eagles began the game with a shot from freshman Riley Walkington in the third minute but her shot was blocked by a Montana defender. EWU junior Sariah Keister also had opportunities to score in the 19th and 31st minute with two headers but one sailed high over the crossbar and the other flew wide left.

The Eagles put the pressure on the Grizzlies outshooting them 5-1 in the first half, but the score remained tied at 0-0 when the halftime whistle blew.

As the second half got underway, EWU sophomore center back Colby Wilson had a crack at the goal following an EWU corner kick that was headed towards the bottom corner, but her shot was blocked. In the 71st minute, the Grizzlies saw an opportunity to score when freshman Emme Fernandez booted the ball at the net but it was a slow roller to the middle and EWU goalkeeper Kelsee Winston calmly collected the ball.

The goal for Montana came in the 79th following a Griz corner kick from junior Avery Adams who found the head of redshirt freshman Kendall Furrow. The redshirt freshman composed her body and jumped up to head the ball into the upper left corner.

As the time winded down, the Eagles chased to find an equalizing goal but Montana stood their ground, and by the final whistle, the match ended in a 1-0 deficit for EWU.

Win Loss Records

The Eagles end the season with an overall record of 9-7-2 and a conference record of 6-2-1 while the Griz finish the season 7-5-6 overall and 6-0-3 in the conference. The all-time series record moves to 7-15-2 for EWU as Chad Bodnar is now 2-4-1 overall against Montana since being at the helm.  

Top Performances

EWU junior Sariah Keister took three shots during the match and Taylor Matheny took two shots with one of them on target. Goalkeeper Kelsee Winston played all 90 minutes and made two saves in the match.

Key Stats

The Eagles outshot the Grizzlies 7-5 but only had one shot on target versus UM's three. Eastern had four different players who took at least one shot and as a team they took 13 corners to Montana's two.

What's Next

EWU receives the No. 3 seed in the Big Sky Conference Championships and they play No. 6 Portland State on Wednesday, Nov. 6 at 11 a.m. Pacific time in the quarterfinals at the Jackson Stadium in Greeley, Colo.

Following the quarterfinals is the semifinal matches on Nov. 8 before the title game which takes place on Nov. 10. All matches will air on Pluto TV Ch. 531 and on WatchBigSky.com, and the semifinal and championship matches will also air on Eleven Sports.

The winner of the championship receives the Big Sky's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. For more information, including tickets and a full schedule, click HERE.