CHENEY, WA — Eastern Washington soccer (6-4-3, 1-0-2) hosted the Idaho Vandals (8-3-2, 2-0-1) in a match up of two of the top teams in the Big Sky conference. After a quiet first half, an event filled second would result in a 2-2 tie.
It was the 32nd overall meeting between the two teams. The Eagles are now 13-17-2 all-time against the Vandals, and are 9-6-1 overall at home. Eastern currently sits third in the Big Sky conference with five points, as Idaho holds the top spot in the league with seven points.
"I think we both like our teams, and each other's teams. We are travel partners with the Vandals, so the two of us after we got through this match today, we are looking ahead and seeing what we can do to get what we need going through the rest of conference play," head coach Missy Strasburg said. "It was a big game, a rivalry game and they are just down the street. Both teams had moments today where we had a lot of control. It is two very different styles of play, and there is going to be a lot of push and pull in 90 minutes."
Match Summary:
The Vandals were aggressive early as they recorded four shots in the first 15 minutes of play. Eastern would make a couple of runs, but were not able to record a shot. In the 17th minute the Eagles would record their first shot of the match from Delani Walker. Idaho would record four offsides and four corners in the first 30 minutes, as they stayed aggressive on the offensive end.
It would be after the fourth offsides where the eagles would turn it up offensively with back-to-back shots from Freeman and Arribas, but were just off-target.
In the closing minutes of the first half, the Vandals would record a free kick just outside the box. Off a deflection with the free kick, Willoughby would record two saves in the madness inside the box. Willoughby would record six saves in the first half.
The second half would bring plenty of fireworks. It would start in the 57th minute with a corner kick from Kendall Moore. The cross would go to the box, and then Elisabeth Cole would get a touch on it to Chloe Pattison who would record the first goal of the match and take the 1-0 lead. Pattison would record her ninth goal of the season, and her 12th of her career. Moore would record her third assist of the season, and Cole would record her second of the season.
One minute later, in the 58th minute, Kendall Moore would loose on the top of the box, and record a beautiful left footed goal to take the 2-0. It would be Moore's fourth goal of the season, and her sixth of her career. Pattison and Arribas would record the assists for Pattison's sixth assist of her career, and Arribas' seventh assist of her career.
"I think in the second half we really did not make any changes. We tried to refocus our team on our training, and things we saw on the scouting report and on film. We were both high scoring teams, but a lot of that was a reminder in execution, when you see it live they really start to understand the spaces that we want to attack. How we could manipulate them out of shape and space, and then find some better opportunities. Those two quick goals were wildly important. It was a great goal off the corner, and getting loose on the top of the box is always fun for us," Strasburg said.
The Vandals would respond however, mirroring the way the Eagles would record their two goals. Idaho would score in the 67th and 68th minute to tie the match 2-2. The last 20 minutes would see three shots from both teams, but neither would be able to net in their third goal of the match.
"We just have to defend better, and just be better in the moment after we score. In terms of keeping our competitive and aggressive mindset higher, we are not a team that plays well when we get conservative. That is just not our identity at all. We need to be much better in those plus two moments," Strasburg said.
Eagles record book watch:
- Junior Chloe Pattison now has the fifth most goals in a single season (9), and has the sixth most points in a single season (21).
- Junior Kamryn Willoughby now has 197 career saves, and has moved into sixth all-time on the Eagles all-time saves list.
Inside the box score:
- Chloe Pattison recorded her ninth goal of the season, and her 12th of her career. Pattison recorded an assist for the second straight match, two shots, and has recorded at least two shots in 10 straight matches.
- Kendall Moore recorded her fourth goal of the season, and third assist of the season. Moore played a full 90 minutes for the second time this season
- Riley Arribas recorded an assist and two shots, and has recorded at least two shots in five straight matches. Arribas has recorded an assist in two straight matches, and four assists this season.
- Becca Gaido leads the team in minutes played (1149) , playing a full 90 minutes in the last 10 matches (only has missed 13 minutes this season). Gaido recorded her first two shots of the season, and recorded her first career shot on goal.
- Iris Mattern played a full 90 minutes for the sixth time this season. Mattern has played 65+ minutes in all 13 matches this season.
- Delani Walker recorded one shot and has recorded at least one shot in her ninth straight game, and has recorded at least one shot in 12 of the 13 matches this season.
- Kamryn Willoughby recorded a season high 10 saves in the match.
- Eastern has used eight different starting lineups this season.
- The Eagles have yet to trail at half, and yet to be shutout this season.
Eastern will begin a three match conference road stretch when they travel to Flagstaff to take on Northern Arizona (1-5-4, 1-1-0) Thursday, October 10th at 7 pm. The Eagles will then travel to Missoula to take on Montana (8-2-2, 2-0-0) Sunday, October 13th at 12 pm. Both matches will be streaming on ESPN+.
