CHENEY, Wash. – The Eastern Washington University women's soccer team hosted Portland State today (March 12) to open Big Sky Conference play and found a 3-1 victory at the EWU Soccer Field in Cheney, Wash. The Eagles mark their first league win and start the season 1-0 in conference play while the Vikings fall to 0-1 overall.  

"We put three on the board and that is good for us. I think we have continuously improved as a team and individually. We dropped off a bit in the second half and gave too much possession to Portland State but overall I think the team is getting to where they need to be," said head coach Chad Bodnar. "A win is a win in Big Sky Conference play and I look forward to meeting with them again on Sunday."

Eastern built the momentum early in the match after scoring a goal in the eighth minute from senior Sariah Keister. Keister received the ball near the midline and dribbled her way through PSU's defense and struck the ball from 25 yards out into the upper seven. The brilliant strike into the back of the net marks the seniors ninth career goal as an Eagle.

"The team played really well. We wanted to come out and score early and put our style of play on PSU. We put a few in the back of the net and moved forward and I give a lot of that credit to the players," Bodnar stated. "Every game is important and you cannot afford to slip up, especially with the conference tournament only consisting of four teams this year. These games at home are extremely important and then we have to try and find a way to win on the road as well."

The Eagles outshot the Vikings in the first half 9-3 with shots from six different players in Brittany Delridge, Madison Kem, Taylor Matheny, Mya Elder-Hammond, Brooke Flores and Keister, and went into halftime with a 1-0 lead over Portland State.

It was not long after the second half started that Eastern found its second goal. After a shot attempt from Kem that sailed out left, and a shot from Delridge that rolled to the goalkeeper's hands, EWU went ahead 2-0 from a corner kick that was taken short and crossed into the box to find the head of Colby Wilson. Taylor Matheny delivered the perfectly placed ball to Wilson who soared over the defenders and headed the ball down in the bottom right corner to give the Eagles a 2-0 advantage in the 53^rd minute.

Despite going down 2-0, Portland State was not done fighting as they would collect a solo goal from sophomore Sienna Higinbotham in the 65^th minute.

The Eagles picked up their third goal in the 84^th minute, denying any hope for a comeback for the Vikings. The goal came from the visionary passing of Maddie Morgan to find Kendall Pope who made a diagonal run to get in behind the PSU's backline. It was a one versus one with the goalkeeper as Pope kept her composure, touched the ball around the keeper, and slotted it in the bottom left corner.

With time running off the clock, Eastern held onto possession and finished the match with a 3-1 victory over conference foe Portland State.

WIN-LOSS RECORDS: EWU picks up its first Big Sky Conference victory of the season and improves to 2-2 overall and 1-0 in league play while Portland State falls to 0-1 overall.

TOP PERFORMANCES: Sariah Keister, Colby Wilson and Kendall Pope each collect one goal while Taylor Matheny and Maddie Morgan each picked up one assist.

BODNAR BITES: Head coach Chad Bodnar is now Eastern Washington's all-time winningest coach as he collects his 70^th victory at the helm and holds an all-time record of 70-42-13 (.609) after six complete seasons and four matches this season. He passed former head coach George Hageage (2000-13) who has an all-time record of 69-157-20 (.321) after 14 full seasons.

"It means a lot to me, but it is not just me. It's our staff, including Mackenzie German and all the staff we have had before, and of course the players too," Bodnar states. "It is cool, and it put a smile on face. It is good to know we are making an impact and making things better in the program."

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: Eastern Washington outshot Portland State 18-9, landing 10 on target versus PSU's five.

The Eagles forced the Vikings to make seven saves versus EWU's four, and Eastern also had five corner kicks and did not concede a corner kick to PSU.

UP NEXT: Eastern Washington hosts Portland State on March 14 at 12 p.m. Pacific time for round two at the EWU Soccer Field in Cheney, Wash.