The Eastern Washington University women's soccer team traveled to nearby Gonzaga today (Aug. 19) in Spokane, Wash., and fell short to a score of 4-0 at Luger Field in its season opener. The Bulldogs came out fast, scoring three goals within the first 15 minutes to build an advantage.
"Clearly not the opener that we had worked for or had in mind when we stepped on the field tonight. I have to give a lot of credit to Gonzaga. They came out with an enormous amount of energy and were efficient with their first couple of chances," said head coach Missy Strasburg, who made her Eastern Washington debut tonight coaching against her alma mater. "For us, we got a little flustered with the tempo and our midfield needed to play a little faster. When we had good moments, we were able to get numbers forward and put ourselves in a much more attacking posture which was our game plan tonight."
The Gonzaga Bulldogs applied early pressure on EWU's backline, testing senior goalkeeper Kelsee Winston with two shots and two corner kicks before finding the back of the net in the fourth minute. The goal came from a give-and-go just outside EWU's 18-yard box and slotted home to the bottom far post. With the momentum shifted in GU's favor, they collected a second goal one minute later after the ball was shot across goal from the right edge and into the bottom left corner.
As the Eagles regained possession following the two early goals, they refused to let down any energy, firing off back-to-back shots from Brooke Flores and Taylor Matheny, however, both shots landed outside the frame.
On the counter, the Bulldogs found space in the 15th minute as they let off a shot that was initially deflected off Winston's gloves but bounced to the opposition two yards away from the net for a tap in on the left side, and a third goal for the hosts.
However, the Eagles remained relentless. In the 33rd minute, Mya Elder-Hammond found space for a shot from 25 yards out, but it took a slight deflection and landed in the center for GU's goalkeeper Lyza Bosselmann to scoop up. As the Eagles began to find their feet, the squad combined several passes together to eventually serve Maddie Morgan for a through-ball onto goal, but Bosselmann jumped her line and picked out the pass before the ball could find its target.
One minute later, in the 43rd minute, Morgan collected the ball to serve Grace Terrill onto goal, as Terrill muscled her way through to get off a shot that would be saved. As the first 45 minutes came to a close, the Eagles headed into the locker room down 3-0.
As the second half began, Winston was called upon to save an early shot by GU forward Kate Doyle. EWU would respond with a shot by Taylor Matheny but it would be saved by Bosselmann.
"In the second half, we made some individual adjustments and we saw a much better product and a much closer style and energy of play that we know we're capable of putting out on the field every day," added Strasburg.
Winston would help relieve pressure on the team after making two more saves in the 58th and 70th minute, however the Eagles could not find the back of the net, even with a rocket shot by Janae Lee in the 73rd minute which flew just inches past the right post.
With two minutes left on the clock, EWU created two more chances, beginning with a sequence of passes between freshman Gillian Martin and Matheny that resulted in a corner which forced Bosselmann to come up with another save. However, the Eagles were caught on the counter and GU slotted a fourth goal in the 89th minute. After a full 90 minutes played, the final score remained 4-0 in GU's favor.
"There's a lot of great things to build off of tonight. Again, an enormous amount of credit to Gonzaga. They were ready to go from the jump tonight and frustrated us very quickly," concluded Strasburg. "We got to see some good elements and things we want to do moving forward. I really do believe in the idea and the concept of when we start executing what we're training, we'll be dangerous on the attacking side and be tighter on the defending side. We'll learn a lot from tonight."
WIN-LOSS RECORDS: EWU moves to 0-1 overall while GU improves to 1-0.
TOP PERFORMANCES: Taylor Matheny took three total shots, landing one on target. Mya Elder-Hammond took one shot that was on target.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE: Eastern Washington took seven shots with two on goal. The Eagles collected nine total saves, all of which were credited to Kelsee Winston. They also took three corner kicks.
Gonzaga took 22 total shots with 13 on target and recorded two saves while taking 12 corner kicks.
UP NEXT: Eastern Washington hosts Arkansas State this Saturday, Aug. 21 at 4 p.m. Pacific time at the EWU Soccer Field in Cheney, Wash. Live stats will be available on EWUStats.com and the game will be streamed on ESPN+.
