R E P E A T. The regular season Big Sky champion Eagles of Eastern Washington captured the conference tournament title for the second time on Sunday with a dominant performance against Northern Colorado. The accompanying NCAA tournament berth also, as it turns out, set up a repeat NCAA First Round match-up against University of Southern California, who they gave quite a challenge to a year ago in a 3-1 loss in Los Angeles.
Lots of Gameday photos from Semis & Final below!!
BIG SKY TOURNAMENT ROUND-UP ####
First Round - Wednesday, November 1 (Cheney, WA)
6-Sacramento State 0-2 3-Northern Colorado
The Bears scored six minutes before the break and seven minutes after with Olivia Seddon setting up Taylor Bray for the opening and tallying herself for the insurance. Madeline Burdick made five saves for the shutout.
5-Northern Arizona 0-1 4-Portland State
In a tight contest that saw only six of the 15 shots go on frame, the deciding goal came in the 70th minute when Rilee Castilla (Kennewick, WA) set up Regan Russell. Abbie Faingold made three stops for the shutout.
Semifinals - Friday, November 3 (Cheney, WA)
3-Northern Colorado 2-1 OT 2-Montana
A scoreless stalemate in their first meeting, freshman Alexa Coyle (Bozeman, MT) finished a cross from Ellie Otteson in the 17th minute to put the Griz on the board first. The Bears pulled even in the 72nd on a 30-yard free kick from Mariel Gutierrez that looked like it was going to be a routine save by Claire Howard of a soft strike, but the ball squirted through her hands. The match rolled into overtime and a shootout was looming just over six minutes away when Brooke Braden drove into the box and sent a short cross to Maddie Roberts, who slipped the ball under Howard with a close-range shot before she could drop down on it.
4-Portland State 1-2 1-Eastern Washington
A Chloe Williams (Spokane, WA) corner in the seventh minute found the head of Jenny Chavez to put the Eagles on the board early. Another corner in the 53rd led to the second goal and game-winner. The restart from Emma Vanderhyden was popped up in the box and Brooke Dunbar got her head to it just off the goalline as the goalkeeper reached out to knock it away. Goalkeeper Emily Busselman (Richland, WA / CC Spokane) made several quality saves in the wet and later snowy conditions, but had no chance at stopping Tea Poore's shot in the 80th that made for a dramatic and tense finish. Her shot in the snow from about 25 yards out was a perfect strike that soared into the far upper corner.
Championship - Sunday, November 5 (Cheney, WA)
3-Northern Colorado 0-3 1-Eastern Washington
In a thoroughly dominant performance in which the Eagles outshot the Bears 16-3 and allowed just one shot on goal, the visiting keeper Madeline Burdick did well to keep Eastern off the board for much of the match. It was not until she had to face a pair of penalties in the second half that the scoreline changed. Savannah Hoekstra (Spokane, WA) stepped to the spot for the first after she was fouled driving through the box in the 62nd minute and Chloe Williams (Spokane, WA) put away the second in the 75th after another foul at the right corner of the box. Three minutes later the Eagles locked things up when they came flying up the pitch and Emma Vanderhyden unleashed a well-paced, lengthy shot on goal. Burdick did well to stop it, but the rebound came out a bit too far, allowing Alexis Stephenson (Pasco, WA) to dash in and beat her to the ball in the middle of the box for the finish. The victory gave the Eagles a 10-1-1 record against Big Sky opposition with the lone defeat coming in their season finale at Idaho.
Big Sky All-Tournament Team ####
Four Eagles were named to the All-Conference Team following the championship game with Chloe Williams repeating as the MVP.
Jenny Chavez, EWU
Savannah Hoekstra, EWU
Alexis Stephenson, EWU
Madeline Burdick, UNC
Mariel Gutierrez, UNC
Jackie Pulley, UNC
Olivia Seddon, UNC
Alexa Coyle, UM
Janessa Fowler, UM
Abbie Faingold, PSU
Katie Forsee, PSU
GAMEDAY PHOTOS ####
Photo Galleries: UNC-UM Semifinal [+] PSU-EWU Semifinal [+] UNC-EWU Final [+]
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