CHENEY, Wash. – The Eastern Washington University women's soccer team hosted Northern Arizona today (Oct. 3) and dropped the decision to 1-0 at the EWU Soccer Field in Cheney, Wash. A late goal in the 80' provided the Lumberjacks with their first Big Sky Conference win of the season.

"I think there is a lot of people who overlook Northern Arizona because of their record but we knew this was going to be a really tough game. They are similar to us, they played a really tough non-conference schedule and that impacts your team in both goal scoring and confidence. As much film as I've watched on them, I do think they are tough and really athletic, and they outshoot a lot of teams in our conference, and we really struggled to match their energy in the first half," said head coach Missy Strasburg. "We played much better in the second half. Credit to Kelsee Winston, another fantastic performance for her. She makes the saves she is supposed to make but she is also very capable on throwing out spectacular saves and she is always up to answer the call. Her leadership, in addition to her presence and her communication is really important to us."

A huge defensive effort, led by senior captain and EWU goalkeeper Kelsee Winston, helped provide a clean sheet for the first 45' as she made six important first half saves, including three consecutive saves in a span of one minute early in the match.

Despite a first half performance that proved to be not up to EWU's standards, they entered the second half with a bright start, creating threatening chances from NAU's high pressure. For the home side, they got plenty of good opportunities including a volley from Friday's hero Madison Kem off a set piece play in the 66th minute, but NAU's goalkeeper Natalie Manzo was in the right place for the save. Just one minute later, Grace Terrill would be slipped in by Kalista Kakou who cut the Lumberjack defense open as Terrill took a crack towards the far bottom post, however Manzo leaped and blocked the shot past the end-line.

The Eagles were far from finished on the attacking side as Maddie Morgan received the ball on the wing and drove inside to beam a near post effort in the 71^st minute. With the flow of the game favoring in the Eagle direction, they would let off two more shots in the 78' and 79', one of which flew just inches over the crossbar while the other was aimed towards the bottom left corner.

But it was Northern Arizona who would capitalize after building up nine saves for Winston prior to their 80' goal. The Lumberjack pressure finally paid off when they put numbers in the Eagle 18-yard box for a corner kick, as they would all crash the box and eventually slot one in the net.

Following the late score, EWU created two more shots but ultimately could not exploit NAU as they would fall to a 1-0 deficit by the final whistle.

WIN-LOSS RECORDS: After today's deficit, EWU hits an even 2-2-0 in conference play and holds a 4-8-0 overall record. Northern Arizona moves to 3-10-0 overall and 1-3-0 in league play.

Additionally, in their last four matches, the Eagles have scored seven total goals and only conceded one.
 
TOP PERFORMANCES: Goalkeeper Kelsee Winston converted on 10 saves, six in the first half and four in the second.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: Eastern Washington took seven shots, with four on target versus Northern Arizona's 17 shots in which 11 landed on frame.

The Eagles forced the Lumberjacks to make four saves versus EWU's 10, and Eastern also took three corner kicks while NAU took four.

UP NEXT: Eastern Washington returns to action as they travel to face Portland State on Oct. 8 in Portland Ore., at 11:30 a.m. Pacific time. Following the match, they take on Sacramento State on Oct. 10 in Sacramento, Calif., for a 1 p.m. PT kick-off.

Fans can catch the match versus PSU live on ESPN+ or follow via the LIVE STATS HERE.

Fans can catch the match versus Sac State live on ESPN+ or follow via the LIVE STATS HERE.

For more information on how to watch on ESPN+ click HERE.