Eagles soccer team drops season-opener to Washington State

PULLMAN – After 460 days without competition, the Eastern Washington University soccer team finally returned to the pitch Feb. 12 as they faced No. 19 Washington State in Pullman for its season opener. Madison Kem gave the Eagles an early lead in the fourth minute via a penalty kick goal, but the Cougars found the final four goals to take the 4-1 decision.

"I thought we played much better today against a team that was obviously in the Final Four last year," Eagles head coach Chad Bodnar said. "We conceded a goal with a minute left in the first half and then 30 seconds into the second half. There's a lot of little things we can fix and get better at fast." 

Washington State wasted no time putting on the pressure, as they fired off back-to-back shots in the bottom center of the net that were both saved by senior keeper Kelsee Winston in the first two minutes of the match. 

However, it was the Eagles who capitalized first after a foul inside the box, with Kern called on to take the penalty kick in the fourth minute, putting the Eagles up 1-0 in the match. 

Two minutes later, the Cougars found the equalizer behind the foot of Grayson Lynch. 

The Cougars worked hard to find their first lead of the match following the equalizer, as they fired off nine shots in eight minutes with five on goal. Winston made four saves to keep WSU away with the other credited to the EWU defense. 

After Winston made her sixth save of the night in the 37th minute, Washington State found its first lead in the 44th minute.

Mya Elder-Hammond found an opportunity seconds before halftime, but came up short and the Eagles trailed 2-1 at the half. 

Washington State scored its third goal of the match 30 seconds into the second half to take a 3-1 lead. As the second half rolled on, both Grace Terrill and Maddie Morgan took attempts to put the Eagles back in the game but couldn't capitalize. 

Winston was called on to make six more saves in the final 45 minutes, but the Cougars tacked on one more goal for insurance in the 84th minute from Margie Detrizio.