CHENEY, Wash. — Eastern Washington battled, but fell to a quality Boise State team 2-1 in their final match before Big Sky play. The Eagles had the lead until a 44th minute corner kick goal by the Broncos. In the 51st minute, the Broncos would score the go-ahead goal, and eventually win the match.
The Eagles would fall to 5-4-1 on the season, with the Broncos improving to 7-2-0. It is Eastern's best non-conference record under head coach Missy Strasburg. EWU would split the Mountain West schools 2-2, and head into conference play with confidence after a quality non-conference finish.
Match Summary:
The Eagles were slow offensively in the first 15 minutes, as the Broncos were aggressive and recorded five shots to Eastern's one. With the aggressiveness from the Broncos, presented opportunities for a breakaway. In the 18th minute Chloe Pattison would force a foul in the box for the Eagles fourth penalty kick attempt this season. Pattison would sink the penalty in the back of the net for her eighth goal of the season to take the early 1-0 lead.
The Eagles defense was tested all half and appeared to have a clean slate. However, in the 44th minute, the Broncos would score a header from their seventh corner of the half and tie the match 1-1. Boise State recorded 12 shots with five on goal in the half. Eastern recorded seven shots with five different Eagles.
The Broncos would continue the momentum they gained at the end of the half, and score in the 51st minute to take the 2-1 lead. Boise State would record seven shots in the first eight minutes.
The Broncos recorded 29 total shots. The most by an Eagle opponent this season. It was a tough task in the second half, as Eastern was held to just two shots, and the Broncos kept their high intensity. There were eight total yellow cards, and five from Boise State.
"The Mountain West is a good conference, it is a good combination of quality soccer, and really good coaching. There definitely is a physical nature to confidence. It has been a good prep these last four games going into Big Sky play. Stylistically it was a difficult match in terms of how each team was going to play," Strasburg said.
The second half was more favorable for the Eagles in corners. The Broncos only recorded one more corner (6-5), then the Eagles, a spot where the Broncos thrived in the match. Boise State's defense was stout, as the Eagles failed to record a shot in the last 27 minutes.
"The shot count for us, is not an indicator of the quality of the match. The reason for that is in different defending constructs, and different priorities, we might be happy about a team taking shots from 30, 35 feet that are not quality chances. With that said, I thought Boise State created several quality chances in goal, and in terms of being dangerous from the corner, and that is something that is important to their program and always has been," Strasburg said. "We care a little bit less about the shot differential, and care more about final entries. Certainly the way that we play, and are able to break out of any pressure that a team presses us with, we create a lot of really dynamic attacking opportunities. A lot of those opportunities do not show up as shots, which is fine. That is why we have a different way of trying to define if we were in a game or not."
Inside the box score:
- Chloe Pattison scored her eighth goal of the season and 11th of her career. Pattison recorded two shots, and has recorded at least two shots in eight straight matches
- Riley Arribas recorded two shots,and has recorded at least one shot in eight matches. Arribas started in her 40th career match
- Becca Gaido leads the team in minutes played (879) , playing full 90 in the last seven matches (only has missed 13 minutes this season.) Gaido also started in her 20th career match.
- Iris Mattern played a full 90 minutes for the third straight match, and the fourth time this season. Mattern has played 65+ minutes in all 10 matches this season.
- Grace Terrill appeared in her 70th career match.
- Gillian Martin appeared in her 60th career match.
- The Eagles recorded a PK goal for the second straight match, and the fourth time this season. Four different Eagles have recorded PK goal (Pattison, Freeman, Walker, and Moore)
- Four Eagles recorded two shots, and the team has yet to trail in all 10 matches this season.
The Eagles will be back home to start Big Sky conference play and host Portland State Friday, September 27th at 3:30 pm at EWU soccer field. The match will be streaming on ESPN+.
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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