Eagles' soccer sweeps Portland State

CHENEY – Eastern Washington University’s women’s soccer team notched their first and second Big Sky Conference wins this past weekend with a sweep of visiting Portland State. The Eagles knocked off the Vikings by identical 3-1 scores on Friday, March 12 and Sunday, March 14.

Eastern opened 2-0 leads in both games. They found the net first on Sunday in the 23rd minute, with Riley Walkington dropping a corner kick near the penalty spot that freshman Grace Terrill headed in for the score.

After a flurry of shots on goal were denied by Viking’s goalkeeper Enya Hernandez late in the first half, Eastern found the back of the net again early in the second. The first came in the 70th minute off a feed from Taylor Matheny to Maddie Morgan, who possessed the ball at the top of the 18-yard box and knocked it home for a 2-0 lead.

PSU cut the lead in half two minutes later on a goal by Ani Jensen. But Eastern stretched the margin back to two in the 75th minute, with Morgan again scoring, this time off a lob pass by Colby Wilson.

Eastern Washington out-shot Portland State 15-7, landing nine on target versus PSU’s four. The Eagles forced the Vikings to make six saves versus EWU’s three by goalkeeper Kelsee Winston, and Eastern also had five corner kicks and did not concede a corner kick to PSU.

Two days earlier in the conference opener it was Eastern Washington again getting quickly on top, with senior Sariah Keister possessing a ball near midfield, dribbling her way through the PSU defenders and striking the ball into the net in the eighth minute from 25 yards out.

As with Sunday, the Eagles offensive flurry in the first half failed to produce a second goal, outshooting the Vikings 9-3 at the end of 45 minutes. But in the second half, Wilson headed in a pass off a corner kick for a 2-0 lead in the 53rd minute.

PSU closed the gap on Sienna Higinbotham’s goal in the 65th minute. But in the 84th minute, Eastern notched the final margin with Morgan finding Kendall Pope with a pass on a diagonal run that got her behind the Viking’s backline where she beat the goalkeeper one-on-one for the score.

Eastern Washington outshot Portland State 18-9, landing 10 on target versus PSU’s five. The Eagles forced the Vikings to make seven saves versus EWU’s four, and Eastern also had five corner kicks and did not concede a corner kick to PSU.

“The defense has been great and has been locking it down,” head coach Chad Bodnar said after Sunday’s game. “Colby Wilson and Jordyn King have been really solid. Janai Lee and Marissa Mills have also been playing well. Overall, we have been doing a better job of organizing and communicating.”

Friday’s win was Bodner’s 70th at Eastern Washington, making him the program’s all-time winningest coach. After Sunday, his record stands at 71-42-13 after six complete seasons and four matches this season. He passed former head coach George Hageage (2000-13) who has an all-time record of 69-157-20 (.321) after 14 full seasons.

The Eagles go to 2-0 in Big Sky play, 3-2 overall. Next up is a road trip to Sacramento, Calif., to face conference foe Sacramento State on March 19 at 3 p.m. PT and again on March 21 at 1 p.m. PT.

“They are a good team and we had to face them in the conference tournament last year and had to get past them in the semifinals,” Bodnar said of the Hornets. “It will be a battle since we both are returning almost the same teams. Head coach Randy Dedini does a good job at the helm, but the nice thing is we are 2-0 right now and look forward to our next match.”

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.