STOCKTON, Calif. — The second game of the 2023 season had Eastern Washington women's soccer in a highly-contested matchup against Pacific on Sunday afternoon. The Tigers managed to finally break away and hold off Eastern in the second half for a 3-2 win. The Eagles now fall to 0-2-0 early in the season.
"Despite the result, staff and players alike felt we had some great growth in areas that are important to our team's future success," head coach
Missy Strasburg said. "We were grittier in the box on both defending and attacking set pieces. We also showed a lot of improvement with regards to building out of the back under pressure, with composure and intent. We felt a little unlucky to have the game decided on a PK call. We had some potential goals called back or not awarded for either balls on the goal line or offside call."
The scoring started in the 24th minute, as Pacific broke the tie with a shot in the right corner of the goal.
Delani Walker scored the equalizer for Eastern in the 38th minute, placing her shot over the Tigers' goalie and the game was tied at one. The goal was Walker's first career score at Eastern.
The Tigers would retake the lead with a quick goal to open the second half in the 46th minute.
Grace Terrill scored for the second-straight game to even the score up at the 50th minute. After earning a corner kick, Elisabeth Cole delivered the pass to Terrill, who used her chest and sent the ball into the back of the net. The game was tied at two.
Pacific drew a penalty in the box and converted the opportunity in the 54th minute for a 3-2 Tiger lead.
The Eagles kept the pressure up and managed to outshoot the Tigers, 7-4, in the second half. Despite the effort, Pacific prevented Eastern from evening the score up again and earned their first win of the season (1-0-1).
"We did score two great goals today, and ultimately needed to keep improving our team defending to make sure our goal-scoring translates into wins," added Strasburg. "We turn our attention to Thursday and the team's official home debut."
Eagle Notes
- Delani Walker scored her first goal in her 18th appearance in the Eagle uniform.
- Grace Terrill scored her fifth career goal. She has matched her season-high in goals, after scoring two in 2020.
- Elisabeth Cole earned her second career assist after setting up Terrill's goal.
- Maddie Morgan recorded a team-high three shots with one going on goal.
- Eastern had nine total shots, with four going on net. Pacific managed 12 shots and seven on goal.
- True freshman Chloe Fairchild and Charity Freeman both made their career debuts for the Eagles. Eastern had 24 total players record minutes.
- EWU is now 1-1 against Pacific in program history and 7-23-3 against the WCC.
- There were 33 fouls called in the game, 19 on Pacific and 14 on Eastern.
Up Next
Eastern Washington will return for its home opener at EWU Soccer Field against Nebraska on Thursday, Aug. 24. The game is scheduled to kick off at 4:30 p.m. Pacific Time.
New for the 2023-24 season, the EWU Women's Sports Pass gives fans access to over 30 Eagle Athletics events, including volleyball, soccer and women's basketball for only $5 per game! Learn more and get yours today at goeags.com/tickets or call 509-359-6056.
ABOUT EASTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS
Eastern Washington University Athletics sponsors 14 intercollegiate sports, six for men and eight for women, both as learning opportunities for its most athletically talented students and as an enhancement to student and community life. Eastern is affiliated with Division I of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) and is a member of the Big Sky Conference, an association of 10 regional schools with comparable enrollments and academic goals.
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