EWU women's soccer drops openers

CHENEY — Eastern Washington University’s women’s soccer team is still searching for its first goal of the season, having come close on several occasions in back-to-back losses to open the 2021 campaign.

The Eagles fell 4-0 in the season opener Aug. 19 at Gonzaga University, finding themselves in an early 3-0 hole on the strength of three goals in the first 15 minutes by the host Bulldogs. Eastern followed that with a 1-0 loss in the home opener Aug. 21 against Arkansas State, the lone goal coming in the 11th minute of play.

“In terms of overall performance of the team, we did a lot more right today and had a much better start,” new Eagles head coach Missy Strasburg said after the Arkansas State game. “At the end of the day, we really just made one mistake at the back, and we were aware of that player – she’s an extremely talented player for Arkansas State and it was a miscommunication from our back line.”

Last Thursday in Spokane the Eagles weren’t afford much time to keep their eyes on specific Gonzaga players. The Bulldogs came out with offensive intensity and focus, putting the pressure on the Eastern backline early, getting off two shots and two corner kicks before finding the back of the net in the fourth minute on a goal from outside the EWU 18-yard box.

The Bulldogs made it 2-0 one minute later on a shot that crossed the in front of the goal from the right edge into the bottom left corner. The Eagles responded with some offense of their own, getting back-to-back shots from Brooke Flores and Taylor Matheny, only to have Gonzaga gain possession and score on the counter on a shot initially deflected by goalkeeper Kelsee Winston but being put back into the net from two yards out.

The Eagles had several more scoring opportunities in the first half, including shots at goal by Mya Elder-Hammond, Maddie Morgan and Grace Terrill. Winston made several key saves in the second half, and the Eagles just missed the equalizer on a shot by Janae Lee in the 73rd minute that flew just inches past the right post.

Gonzaga notched their final goal off of Eastern pressure late in the game, scoring in the 89th minute on an offensive counter for the final tally.

Eastern took seven shots, two on goal, with Winston making nine saves. Gonzaga had 22 shots, 13 on goal and two saves.

Saturday in the home opener against Arkansas State it was the Red Wolves drawing first blood, scoring on a diagonal run by forward Sarah Sodoma who split between two EWU defensive backs and knocked the ball into the net just inside the right post in the 11th minute.

Winston made seven saves to keep the Eagles in the game, but the offense managed just three shots at goal and four corner kicks. ASU had 16 shots, eight on goal with five corner kicks and one save.

Eastern drops to 0-2 overall, and faces a road trip to Pullman on Aug. 29 to face Washington State, game time 1 p.m.

Strasburg views the first two games as a “basic install” with a new team who had been together practicing for just 15 days prior to the opener against Gonzaga.

“We’ve laid the foundation of what we’re looking for and now we’re finally in a place where we can add a couple new layers of sophistication and ideas as we move forward,” she said. “Our players are bought in and we’re looking forward to this stretch where we can go back and train and develop and add some fitness.”

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].