CHENEY, Wash. – Eastern Washington picked up its first win of the season Wednesday evening, defeating Mount Royal, 2-0. Ella Hyde and Mia Miconi each found the back of the net, with both scoring their first goals in an Eagle uniform.

With several new faces seeing significant minutes, head coach Missy Strasburg was pleased with how the Eagles responded in their first official match together.

"I think we're really, really pleased," Strasburg said. "Obviously, we started a lot of new faces for this group. This is a very new, fresh-looking team for us, but a lot of people were shining brightly tonight."

The Eagles started slowly but generated multiple scoring opportunities in the opening half, recording six shots with four on target. E. Hyde broke through in the 39th minute, scoring her first career goal to give Eastern a 1-0 advantage heading into halftime.

"Everything counts," Strasburg said of E. Hyde's first goal. "It was a little anticlimactic for Ella's first goal, but she put in a huge shift. She's adaptable, and we know that. She can help us wide and high, and she can help us at fullback. It was great for her to get a goal today and get a little bit of a reward for all the work that she does effort-wise."

Payton Hyde was strong in goal throughout the opening 45 minutes, collecting five saves. Mount Royal applied consistent pressure with 10 first-half shots, including five on goal, keeping the Eastern back line busy.

The Cougars continued to pressure the Eagles early in the second half, but P. Hyde came up with another key save to preserve Eastern's one-goal advantage.

"I thought it was a really mature performance by her today, considering it is technically her first college official start," Strasburg said. "She made a lot of those saves look incredibly easy, sometimes just moving her feet, standing up and catching them upright. It's just good goalkeeping. She was definitely up to the task, and it's very promising as we move forward."

Eastern added insurance in the 83rd minute when newcomer Miconi scored her first goal as an Eagle off an assist from Maya Bossenbrook, extending the advantage to 2-0.

Miconi was one of several newcomers who made an immediate impact. Riley Roesch played all 90 minutes in her Eastern debut, while Deanna  Montero returned to the field after recovering from an ACL injury and nearly scored on her first touch of the match.

"Riley Roesch, you can't say enough about her," Strasburg said. "She had 90 minutes today, worked super hard defensively, got stuck in, went to ground, won balls out of the air and was just such an unbelievably calming presence in possession. It was a great opening day for her."

Mount Royal pushed forward over the final minutes, but Eastern's defense held strong to secure the shutout. P. Hyde finished the match with seven saves, while Miconi and E. Hyde led the Eagles with two shots on goal apiece.

Eastern now turns its attention to Bucknell, which comes to Cheney on Sunday for another early-season test.

"Bucknell is a really, really good team," Strasburg said. "They have several double-digit win seasons under their belt right now, and they're really dominant in their conference. It's definitely a winning culture, and I think it's a really good early-season challenge for us on Sunday."

The Eagles return to action Sunday, Aug. 16, at 1 p.m. against Bucknell at the EWU Soccer Field before hitting the road for the first time this season.



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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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