GREELEY, COLO. – After a long battle against tournament host Northern Colorado, the Eastern Washington University soccer team fell short, 1-0 to the Bears today (Nov. 10) in the championship match of the Big Sky Conference tournament in Greeley, Colo. UNC found an early goal to keep a 1-0 lead in the first half as Eastern tried to gain momentum but could not seal the deal before the final whistle.
"I thought we came out really flat in the first half and didn't grab the moment against a team that was playing at home. We challenged them in the second and I thought our players played well," said head coach Chad Bodnar. "We had the ball mostly in their half after halftime but just didn't do anything dangerous. Overall, the kids fought hard and played well and had a heck of a tournament."
The Eagles found the first opportunity to score when Sariah Keister took a shot in the fifth minute, but she could not find the net as the ball sailed out left.
Four minutes later, in the ninth minute of the match, Northern Colorado found some momentum and scored an early goal to put the Bears ahead 1-0 over the Eagles. The goal came from Taylor Bray, a junior from Ukiah, Calif., when she took the ball herself and found the back of the net.
EWU responded with a shot from Maddie Morgan, who scored three goals in the tournament, as she saw an opportunity in the 13th minute but the shot was saved by UNC goalkeeper Ashley Franza.
The Bears tested EWU goalkeeper Kelsee Winston, forcing her to come up with five saves in the first half as Northern Colorado stayed ahead 1-0 headed into halftime.
The Eagles began the second half with some energy as they found themselves three shots in the first five minutes. Two of them came from junior Mya Elder-Hammond and Morgan who had back-to-back shots but could not find the equalizing goal as they were both saved by Franza.
EWU outshot UNC 6-2 in the second half, with opportunities to score from senior Saige Lyons in the 75th minute and sophomore Janae Lee in the 86th minute, but the Eagles could not get one to fall as the match ended in a 1-0 deficit for Eastern.
Win Loss Records
The Eagles end the 2019 season with an overall record of 11-8-2 as they are 2-1 in their Big Sky Championship appearances. UNC continues the season with an overall record of 9-10-4. Eastern is now 1-1 against Northern Colorado in the championship match of the Big Sky conference.
The all-time series record for the Eagles moves to 5-10-4 with Chad Bodnar 2-6-1 since being at the helm.
Top Performances
Sariah Keister and Maddie Morgan each took two shots during the match as the Eagles had seven different players with at least one shot. EWU goalkeeper Kelsee Winston made six saves during the match.
Key Stats
EWU took nine shots to UNC's 12, putting three on target versus Northern Colorado's seven. The Eagles took six corner kicks to UNC's two.
