Normality, to some degree, is back when it comes to college soccer, and it kicks off Thursday night with Gonzaga playing host to Eastern Washington. The following day the Bulldog men host an exhibition against NAIA program College of Idaho, which is sticking around to play CC Spokane on Sunday.
Not long after action begins to stir at Whitworth with the men's program playing host to Northwest University (NAIA) on Tuesday.
The Gonzaga and Eastern Washington women head into Thursday's contest with programs going in two different directions. The Zags (17-4-1 vs EWU all-time) are coming off of a fantastic spring campaign that saw them post the program's best-ever West Coast Conference finish of third with a record of 5-2-1 that concluded with their first win against Pepperdine since 2010, marking another the end of another negative streak on the records books the team has checked off in recent years. It also resulted Chris Watkins receiving the first Coach of the Year honor on behalf of the program since Shannon Stiles in 2003. It was the third consecutive five-win conference season for the Zags after five total wins in the previous three.
At the other end of the spectrum is Eastern. The Eags limped through last year's split Big Sky setup that started with a pair of home wins against Portland State and was even afterword with a pair of scoreless draws at Sacramento State and a split at home against Idaho and on the road versus Montana over the next four contests. When it was all said and done coach Chad Bodnar's contract was not renewed amidst a myriad of claims, rumors and accusations on both sides of the decision.
Thursday's game will be the first for coach Missy Strasburg as Eastern's scheduled exhibition this past weekend was canceled due to smoke. And it is a big one for her as a former Bulldog. A player for the Zags from 1997-01, Strasburg was a program leader statistically at the time. She went on to spend several years in Spokane with area programs such as the Spokane Shadow (now Sounders) and Riverside High School, where she was 2003 GNL Coach of the Year just a couple years later. She went on to coaching stints as an assistant at several universities before landing at Air Force, where she had been an assistant since 2016 and helped guide the Falcons to one of their best seasons in program history in 2019.
Also new as a head coach this season is Aaron Lewis for the Gonzaga men. He was named to the post following the spring campaign after just two seasons with the program. He came to Spokane, though, with quite a resume as t he six-year head coach at Corban, where he reached the NAIA Championships all six years and was a regular contender for league titles with a combined five regular and post season championships in the Cascade Collegiate Conference. A former Portland Timbers staffer prior to taking the helm of his alma mater, he also spent time with the Portland Timbers U23, winning the division title in 2017.
Picked to finish last, the Bulldog men are looking to defy expectations this season after a winless conference campaign in the spring that was a bit deceiving on paper as they never allowed more than two goals to a WCC opponent as they gave up just 11 in six games.
At Whitworth new coach Jeremy Payne is hoping a return to normal will be double-fold for the Pirates, who struggled through an unusual losing record of 3-7-1 during his debut under the odd conditions of the spring season. A former two-time NSCAA Division III Player of the Year at Messiah College (Pa.), came to Spokane after spending five years with Eastern University (Pa.), leading them to a 42-17-5 mark as head coach the final three seasons and winning conference titles multiple times. An outsider to the community and program, Payne has enlisted alumni Drew Williams and Tony Watters onto the staff.
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