The 2022 season is here for Eastern Washington Soccer, as the team will host a pair of exhibition matches next week to prepare for the fall schedule. The Eagles will take on the University of Calgary on Tuesday, August 9 at 5 p.m. Pacific Time, followed by a match against Yakima Valley Community College on Friday, August 12 at 5 p.m.

Second year head coach Missy Strasburg talked about the importance of the upcoming matches.

"The exhibitions are awesome and they're helpful for us to use in a million different ways. Certainly, the mentality of winning is an important aspect of any Division I athlete approach. There is also an understanding that we are still in the teaching phase. There are a lot of ideas we want to be able to provide when we get live game reps, not just to our young players but our veterans as well. As a team, we are in a really important phase of makings sure we build up everyone together and create synergy with regards to how we execute."

Returning Eagles
Eastern will return seven starters, along with six additional players from the 2021 roster. Midfielder Madison Kem and forward Maddie Morgan return for the Eagles after tying for the team lead with three goals last season. Kem was an All-Big Sky first team selection last fall with six points recorded and Morgan led the team with seven points. Senior defender Mya Elder-Hammond gets back on the pitch for one more season after earning an All-Big Sky honorable mention in '21.

Eastern's offensive attack is bolstered by returning starters, Gillian Martin, Brooke Flores, Grace Terrill, and Mareonna Henderson. Martin is a sophomore forward, who recorded two goals and tied for the team lead with two assists. Flores provides another option at forward after scored one goal and had two assists in her sophomore season. Terrill had an outstanding freshman season at midfield, notching one assists and 10 shots in '21, with 16 starts. Henderson was a work horse last season for the Eagles, recording 1277 total minutes played and started 15 of the team's 17 matches and she returns as a redshirt-junior.

Kiara Matson provides experience in the net for Eastern after playing in two games and helping the team to a combined shutout against CSU Bakersfield in a non-conference match last season.

The Eagles will also have junior midfielders, Corina Froehle and Kalista Kakou back this season. Angela Cipriano, Rylee Franklin, and Katrina Kupp all return as sophomores.

The Newcomers
Using the base of returning starters and players from '21, the Eagles will welcome 17 newcomers to the roster for the '22 squad.

Lyric Baker joins the Eagles' defense after transferring from New Mexico State and Elisabeth Cole will help the midfield after transferring from St. Martins.

Eastern will add a pair of freshman goalkeepers to its depth chart, with Kamryn Willoughby and Sydney Reagan. The freshman class also includes Jada Cross, Riley Arribas, Christina Munoz, Rylee Siefken, Claire Eerkes, Marina Downing, Sarah Roberts, Candace Carlson, Ryanne Ampi, Skyler Matthews, Delani Walker, Rebecca Gaido, and Chloe Pattison.

With a roster full of newcomers, Strasburg discussed the importance of the first week of practice.

"We're really young this year. We're teaching them what are standards are and we want to make sure to explain, demonstrate, train, and rep everything so we have the highest level of accountability. Anyone making the transition from high school to college knows that the speed and expectations are very different. We're making sure that we get a solid install of our basic package of review on both sides of the ball."

Recap of '21
Eastern finished the 2021 season with a 3-6 record in the Big Sky and 5-12 overall in Strasburg's first season leading the team. The Eagles narrowly missed out on a trip to the Big Sky Championships, finishing seventh in the conference.

During the season, Eastern had a strong performance against CSU Bakersfield, earning a 5-0 victory. In conference play, the Eagles opened with a 3-1 road win over Idaho State and won a 2-0 match over Southern Utah in the team's first conference home game.

The team will have to replace Kelsee Winston, who graduated in the spring, after putting her name in the record book at Eastern. Winston is the program's all-time leader in shutouts (21.0) and minutes played (1958:46). She earned All-Big Sky second team honors during her final season in Cheney. The Eagles will also look to replace All-Big Sky second team selection, Jordyn King, how was key for the defense, starting all 17 games and logging 1471 total minutes on the field.

The Season Ahead
Eastern's regular season opens on Thursday, August 18 with a road trip to Corvallis, Ore. to take on Oregon State. The Eagles home opener will be against Nevada on August 25 at 4 p.m. The home non-conference slate includes matches against Denver(September 1) at 4 p.m., North Dakota(September 9) at 3 p.m. and Louisiana(September 11) at 1 p.m.

On the road, Eastern will play Portland (August 21), Washington State(August 28), UNLV(September 4), San Jose State(September 15), and the final non-conference match of the season against Boise State(September 18).

The Eagles Big Sky opener will be a home match against Idaho State on September 22 at 3 p.m. Weber State comes to Cheney on September 25 for a 1 p.m. kickoff.

Eastern will then have three road tests in conference including Northern Colorado(September 30), defending champions Montana(October 2), and Northern Arizona(October 6).

After the three road matches, the Eagles will play two at EWU Soccer Field, starting with Sacramento State on October 14 at 1 p.m. Senior day for Eastern will be Sunday, October 16 against Portland State, with kickoff at 1 p.m.

The team's final regular season match will be on the road against Idaho on October 23.

The 2022 Big Sky Conference Championships will be held from November 2 to November 6 in Greeley, Colo.