CHENEY, Wash. – The Eastern Washington University soccer squad looks to face No. 4 Northern Colorado for the Big Sky Conference Championship title this Sunday, Nov. 10 at 11 a.m. Pacific time at Jackson Stadium in Greeley, Colo. Historically, the Eagles are 2-0-0 versus a No. 4 seed in the tournament and are 2-0 in the championship match.
The winner of the championship match will be crowned the 2019 Big Sky Soccer Champions and will receive an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament.
The matchup serves as a rematch to the 2017 championship game, where No. 1 Eastern topped No. 3 Northern Colorado by a score of 3-0 at the EWU Soccer Field in Cheney to advance to its second-straight NCAA tournament.
HOW TO WATCH
Fans can catch the championship match on Eleven Sports and also for free on Pluto TV Ch. 531 and WatchBigSky.com.
Live stats will be available HERE.
A LOOK AT THE EAGLES
The Eagles defeated Sacramento State in double overtime in the semifinals on Friday, Nov. 8 to hold a 2-1 victory over the Hornets. An equalizing goal by freshman Madison Kem in the 61st minute and a golden goal from freshman Maddie Morgan in the second overtime period at 102 minutes helped secure EWU's win over the Hornets.
Morgan, a freshman from Kennewick, Wash., scored two goals in the quarterfinal match versus Portland State as the Eagles held a 3-0 shutout victory over the Vikings.
EWU currently holds an overall record of 11-7-2 as they make their third championship appearance in the last four seasons. Historically, the Eagles are 2-0-0 in the championship match of the Big Sky Tournament and are undefeated when facing a No. 4 seed. Eastern is 2-1-0 overall as a No. 3 seed as this will be the second time EWU has faced Northern Colorado in the championship match.
KNOWING YOUR OPPONENT
Northern Colorado is led by Tim Barrera who enters his 24th season at the helm and is running on a two-match winning streak as they saw victory over Northern Arizona, 2-1 in the quarterfinals, and 2-1 over Montana in the semifinals, both in overtime. UNC currently has an overall record of 8-10-4 and ended the conference with a record of 4-2-3 which handed them the No. 4 seed in the Big Sky Tournament.
Junior Taylor Bray leads the team with five goals and two assists as she has recorded two game-winners this season. Sophomore Lexi Pulley is right behind her with three goals and three assists and one game-winner. Goalkeeper Ashley Franza has recorded 59 saves and has a .747 save percentage. As a team, UNC has scored 26 goals with 18 assists and has allowed 38 goals.
ALL-TIME SERIES HISTORY
The all-time series record for the Eagles is 5-9-4 with Chad Bodnar 2-5-1 since being at the helm. The Eagles met with the Bears last year in the quarterfinals which ended in a 3-1 deficit for EWU.
EWU faced off against Northern Colorado in their first conference match of the season which ended in a 1-1 double overtime draw. Junior Taylor Matheny had the lone goal for the Eastern Washington.
In 2017, the Eagles faced the Bears in the championship match and left with the tournament title after shutting out UNC 3-0.
What's Next
The winner of the championship match will receive an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament. The NCAA Division I Women's Soccer Selection Show will air Monday, November 11th at 1:30 PM PT on NCAA.com
