EWU women’s soccer wraps up exhibition play Friday

CHENEY — EWU will wrap up their exhibition games tonight against Yakima Valley Community College, their final of two preseason matches.

Earlier this week the Eagles defeated the University of Calgary Dinos 3-0 in an exhibition match held in Cheney, starting the season on a positive note both on offense and defense.

"Winning is hard and there is a mentality that goes with that. We are really proud of our effort today," EWU women’s soccer head coach Missy Strasburg said. "We have a lot of young players, but we had a lot of growth today. I was stoked to get three really good goals. Pitching a shutout is also an important aspect of what we are trying to do."

The goals began with a strike by sophomore Katrina Kupp in the 14th minute, assisted by Gillian Martin.

"We like to press in 85 and we talk a lot about when to press high or not," Martin said. "It was a good opportunity to press after they had a little slip-up and we pressured that. I turned and fed (Kupp) the ball."

Following halftime, Martin scored a goal of her own in the 48th minute.

"Riley Arribas had a beautiful cross ball over and I quickly made a slant run and headed it in for a beautiful goal," Martin explained.

Junior Maddie Morgan found the net in the 58th minute, corralling her own missed shot off the post before taking a shot and hitting. The goal gave EWU a 3-0 lead, which would hold true for the rest of the match.

"It gives us a lot of freedom and luxury to try some different partnerships, which was important today,” Strasburg said of the early goals in each half. “It gives us the opportunity to find some more minutes for some of our younger players and make sure they continue to be surrounded by veterans. It gives them a clearer understanding of what we are trying to do here."

The Eagle's match against Yakima Valley will begin at 5 p.m. in Cheney. This is the team’s final exhibition match before the regular season begins with a road trip to Oregon State on August 18.