*Eastern Washington's Feb. 15 game at Gonzaga in Spokane, Wash., has been moved to March 2nd due to weather*

CHENEY, Wash. – The Eastern Washington University women's soccer team is just two days away from its first official match of the 2021 spring season. The Eagles have been training hard and are excited for the upcoming season under seventh-year head coach Chad Bodnar.

Eastern Washington, who has won a Big Sky Conference Tournament title in two out of the last four seasons, is looking to build on a season that saw an 11-8-2 finish last year. Although the 2019 squad fell short of the goal of winning a third title in four years, the program as a whole has finished above .500 for six seasons in a row and has a standard focused around winning.

After the 2020 regular fall season was delayed due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Eastern finally steps back onto the pitch this Friday, Feb. 12 against Pac-12 opponent Washington State. The match is set for 7 p.m. Pacific time in Pullman, Wash.

Following the match, the Eagles travel to nearby Spokane, Wash., to battle the Gonzaga Bulldogs at 1 p.m. PT at Luger Field.

MEET THE RETURNERS: The Eagles welcome back 21 returners and 10 starters to this year's squad. In addition, the 2021 roster is filled with several underclassmen who logged serious minutes on the pitch last season.

Forwards: The Eagles return a solid number of veterans on the front line including leading goal scorers Sariah Keister and Maddie Morgan. Keister, who earned herself a first-team selection in 2019, returns for her senior season after starting 20 games and scoring seven goals and dishing two assists for the Eagles.

Morgan, the sophomore from Kennewick, Wash., scored five goals last season after starting only six of her 21 games played. Morgan scored two goals in the 2019 Big Sky quarterfinals versus Portland State and scored the game-winning golden goal in the conference semifinals in double-overtime against Sacramento State. The 2-1 double-overtime victory advanced the Eagles to the conference championship match.

Taylor Matheny, who scored two goals and had three assists and was named Co-Defensive Player of the Year in 2019, and McKaley Goffard, who logged one goal and one assist and was named second-team all-conference defender, return for their senior year for Eastern. Both Matheny and Goffard played as wing-backs for Eastern running high up the field to join the attack.

Brooke Flores returns for her sophomore year after scoring two goals last season, both of which were game-winners coming early in the season versus non-conference opponents CSU Bakersfield and South Dakota.

Redshirt junior Kendall Pope, who scored two goals for the Eagles and gave one assist, and senior Audrey Castillo return for the Eagles as well.  
 
Midfielders: Madison Kem, who earned the Big Sky Newcomer of the Year award, returns for her sophomore season after playing in all 21 matches last season and recording three goals.

Joining this group are redshirt junior Brittany Delridge and sophomore Riley Walkington. Delridge played in 18 matches for the Eagles and scored three goals, while Walkington contributed in 21 matches having both one goal and one assist for the Eagles in 2019.

Other returners in the midfield include junior Kaelyn Barnes, who recorded one assist, redshirt sophomore Mareonna Henderson, and sophomores Corina Froehle and Kalista Kakou.

Defenders: A trio of juniors in Mya Elder-Hammond, Colby Wilson and Marissa Mills return to the starting lineup for the Eagles. Elder-Hammond received a second-team all-conference nod and competed in all 21 matches for the Eagles, recording two goals and three assists. Wilson played in 20 matches with 17 starts while Mills played in 21, starting in 14.

The Eagles welcome back senior Grace Klinkenberg who played in 14 matches and started in 11. Klinkenberg is no stranger to EWU as she has an honorable mention nod under her belt and returns to assist the backline.

Goalkeepers: Eastern returns goalkeeper Kelsee Winston for her senior year. Winston has earned a Big Sky Defensive Player of the Week nod at least once in every season with EWU and holds the school record in career shutouts with 14.

Last season, she led the Eagles on a seven-game unbeaten streak recording four-straight shutouts and finished the season with six total shutouts. 

MEET THE NEWCOMERS: After a busy offseason recruiting, Eastern welcomes nine newcomers to the program, eight of which are true freshmen and one is a transfer. All are expected to help the Eagles soar into the new season.

The new Eagles include forwards Madelyn Brothers, Anessa Campos, Angela Cipriano, Maddy Pravongviengkham and Grace Terrill. Other newcomers consists of defender Lulu Sadler, and goalkeepers Kiara Matson and Allie Thompson.
 
The lone transfer consists of junior Jordyn King from Grambling State.
 
WHAT'S NEXT: Eastern Washington faces Washington State this Friday, Feb. 12 on the road at 7 p.m. Pacific time. The Cougars are led by head coach Todd Shulenberger, who enters his sixth season at the helm. WSU is currently 1-0 after defeating Seattle University 2-1 in Seattle, Wash., earlier this month.

Last season, WSU upset No.2 seed South Carolina 1-0 in overtime to advance to the NCAA Final Four for the first time in their program history, after earning their 16th win of the year. They ended the season with an overall record of 16-7-1.   

The Eagles have yet to find victory over the Cougars as they have an all-time series record of 0-5 against WSU, with their last match dated back to the fall of 2013. There is no live video for the match versus Washington State but fans can follow the LIVE STATS HERE.
 
Eastern has a quick turn-around as they face Gonzaga three days later on Monday, Feb. 15 in Spokane, Wash., with match time set to begin at 1 p.m. PT. The Bulldogs are currently 1-1 and are led by head coach Chris Watkins.

The Eagles have an overall record of 4-16-1 versus the Zags with the series dating back to 1998. The last time EWU faced GU dates back to 2017 in which the Eagles came away with a 2-1 victory at home. This victory marks the first time Eastern has defeated Gonzaga since 2002 and the first time in program history EWU defeated the Zags in Cheney.

This match will not have live video but fans can catch the LIVE STATS HERE.
 
PRESEASON POLL: The Eastern Washington University soccer team is picked to finish third in the Big Sky Preseason Poll after finishing third in the regular season last year.

The Eagles earned 66 points and two first-place votes, finishing just behind Northern Colorado who was picked second with 69 votes and two first-place tallies. Montana, the 2019 regular season champions, was selected first.

WHAT HAPPENED LAST YEAR: Eastern Washington finished third in the regular season with an overall record of 11-8-2 and had a 6-2-1 record in Big Sky play. The Eagles qualified for their sixth-straight conference tournament, but fell to Northern Colorado in the championship match by a score of 1-0.

The matchup served as a rematch to the 2017 championship game for UNC, where No. 1 Eastern topped No. 3 Northern Colorado by a score of 3-0 at the EWU Soccer Field in Cheney to win the conference championship and advance to its second-straight NCAA tournament.
 
In 2019, six Eastern Washington University women's soccer players received eight All-Big Sky Conference awards. Taylor Matheny received Co-Defensive Player of the Year and Madison Kem was tabbed Newcomer of the Year. Both Matheny and Kem were also named to the All-Big Sky first team along with Sariah Keister. McKaley Goffard and Mya Elder-Hammond were both named to the second team for the first Big Sky accolades of their careers.

To go along with that, head coach Chad Bodnar received Coach of the Year for the first time in his storied career and just the second Coach of the Year award in program history.

EWU's goalkeeper Kelsee Winston, who returns in 2021, recorded 79 total saves on the year and is currently the school record holder in career shutouts with 14 total. She had a single-season save percentage of .775 with six total shutouts in 2019.
 
Eastern scored 33 total goals in 2019 which is the fourth-most in program history for goals in a single season. The Eagles took 291 total shots which is fifth all-time in the EWU record book. The team took 133 total shots on goal which is fourth all-time in a single season and took 129 corner kicks which is second most.

BODNAR'S RISE TO THE TOP: Sitting at an overall record of 68-40-13 (.616) after six complete seasons at the helm, head coach Chad Bodnar has the chance to become the all-time winningest coach in EWU soccer history in 2021.
 
He's chasing former head coach George Hageage (2000-13) who has an all-time record of 69-157-20 (.321) after 14 full seasons.
 
The Eagles would need to secure only one win for him to tie Hageage and only two for him to pass. Bodnar has led his Eagles to at least 11 wins in four out of his six seasons as head coach, including a 16-win season in 2017.

THE SCHEDULE: The 2021 spring schedule includes 10 total regular season matches with four to be played at home.

The Big Sky Conference is split into two divisions. Eastern Washington plays each conference opponent in its division twice with a one-day rest period in-between matches.
 
Eastern's non-conference schedule officially begins on Feb. 12 at Washington State. The Eagles also take on the Gonzaga Bulldogs on the road on Feb. 15 to conclude the non-conference portion.
 
The first home match for Eastern Washington, which is also the first Big Sky Conference match for the Eagles, takes place on Friday, Mar. 12 against Portland State. EWU welcomes back Portland State to Cheney the following Sunday before traveling to Sacramento, Calif., on Mar. 19 and Mar. 21 for two games against conference foe Sacramento State.

The Eagles play host to Idaho on Apr. 2 and Apr. 4 for their last home matches of the 2021 spring season. The regular season closes with matches against Montana on Apr. 9 and Apr. 11 in Missoula, Mont.
 
The top two teams in both divisions at the end of the regular season qualify for the 2021 Big Sky Conference Tournament in Greeley, Colo., on Apr. 15-17. Eastern Washington has qualified for the tournament for six-straight seasons under Bodnar.