CHENEY, Wash. — Eastern Washington women's soccer closed out the 2026 regular season with a 1-0 victory over Idaho.
Ella Hyde scored the game-winning goal in the 29th minute, while
Payton Hyde recorded six saves to secure the shutout. The Eagles finish the season 8-6-4 overall and 2-4-3 in Big Sky play.
Ella Hyde recorded her third goal of the season, with
Noelle Raczykowski and
Maya Bossenbrook each earning an assist. Eastern finished with six shots, including five on goal, while Idaho totaled 14 shots and six on target.
Payton Hyde played all 90 minutes, recording five saves in the opening half.
"It's bittersweet," head coach
Missy Strasburg said. "We put out such a great performance today, and we knew there were a lot of layers going on. That's just the way the Big Sky has been. To pull ourselves back up and put ourselves in a tie for sixth, there's a lot of tiebreaker madness going on right now."
Idaho applied pressure early, forcing
Payton Hyde into saves in the third and sixth minutes. Eastern responded with an opportunity from
Reese Kincaid before
Mia Miconi sent a shot wide in the 14th minute. Hyde continued to stand strong, making two additional saves midway through the half.
Eastern broke through in the 29th minute when
Ella Hyde found the back of the net off assists from Raczykowski and Bossenbrook. Hyde nearly doubled the advantage minutes later, putting another shot on target in the 32nd minute that was turned away by the Idaho goalkeeper.
The Eagles carried their 1-0 advantage into halftime despite being outshot 8-5, with
Payton Hyde recording five saves in the opening 45 minutes.
Idaho increased its offensive pressure in the second half, generating six shots while limiting Eastern to one attempt.
Jenna Howe provided the Eagles' lone second-half opportunity in the 74th minute.
Payton Hyde made another crucial stop in the 81st minute as Eastern's defense held strong through the final whistle.
The victory marked Eastern's first win over Idaho during Strasburg's tenure, ending a stretch of draws and narrow losses against the Vandals.
"It's the first time in my tenure we've beaten Idaho," Strasburg said. "It's been a boatload of ties and hard, disappointing late losses. To close out the game, push another shutout, there's a lot of things we're going to use to elevate ourselves and rebound into next fall."
Despite the disappointment surrounding the postseason picture, Strasburg emphasized the growth of her young squad and the experience returning next season.
"We're young, and we know that. We're going to return a boatload of experience in minutes," Strasburg said. "I just couldn't be more proud of them. On a day when we felt we had to produce a result just to even have an outside chance, it's a good response from our women."
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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