Eagle women down College of Idaho for first pitch win

CHENEY - McKaley Goffard and Brooke Flores each notched a goal and an assist in leading the Eastern Washington University women's soccer team to a 5-0 win over College of Idaho in the Eagles home opener on Saturday at Roos Field.

Brittany Delridge's goal off a through-ball assist from Goffard gave Eastern a 1-0 lead three minutes into the match, with Grace Terrill making it 2-0 eight minutes later on a goal off an assist from Taylor Matheny. The Eagles launched six more shots on goal before finding the back of the net again in the 38th minute, this time off an assist from Flores to Riley Walkington, who dribbled through traffic and buried the ball in the right corner for a 3-0 lead before the half.

Two minutes into the second half, Madison Kem sent a shot at the Yotes net that goalkeeper Shae Waters managed to deflect but failed to clear from the 18-yard box, landing at the feet of Goffard who fired it into the net for a 4-0 lead. Flores' goal in the 75th minute sealed the Eagles first win of the season.

"We were much sharper in front of goal today," Eastern head coach Chad Bodnar said. "We had a lot of opportunities to score goals and we've been struggling with that. A clean sheet, and at the end of the day we got a win."

Eastern moves its record to 1-2 overall while the College of Idaho drops to 1-2-1 on the season. The Eagles outshot the Yotes 24-2, landing 14 on target while forcing College of Idaho to make nine saves against two for Eastern.

"A lot of players got in that haven't gotten to play much this season - and to get off the schneid in terms of scoring goals was a good thing," Bodnar said. "We changed our shape back to the way we used to play and we're a lot more dangerous when we do that."

With the win, Bodnar ties the all-time winningest Eagle soccer coaching record as he collects his 69th victory and holds an all-time record of 69-42-13 (.609) after six complete seasons and three matches this season. He's chasing former head coach George Hageage (2000-13) who has an all-time record of 69-157-20 (.321) after 14 full seasons.

Bodnar's has led his Eagles to at least 11 wins in four out of his six seasons as head coach, including an impressive 16-win season in 2017.

Eastern Washington opens Big Sky Conference play hosting Portland State on March 12 at 12 p.m. Pacific time at the EWU Soccer Field in Cheney.

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].