“We made a couple adjustments at half and I think the big thing was we played a complete 90 minutes of soccer,” said head coach Julie Woodward. “They scored a great goal but then we responded well in the first half by getting one back to keep it tied at halftime. I saw some really good things soccer-wise; they executed our halftime plan really well and made a commitment to attacking and getting forward. I was very pleased with how we responded.”
The Eagles controlled the ball for a majority of the first half, earning an early corner kick and taking three of the opening four shots of the match.
In the 22nd minute, Paige Gallaway scored her third goal of the season, taking the ball straight down the middle and netting it into the center of the goal to put EWU ahead, 1-0.
Each team would add a shot over the next 15 minutes before Isabella Guerry (San Juan Capistrano, Calif.) evened the score, 1-1, on her first career goal off a free kick by Kelly Beck (Tacoma, Wash.).
Julia Moravec (Spokane, Wash.) had the best late first half opportunity to take the lead for the Redhawks in front of a wide open Eastern Washington goal, but her shot went wide with 59 seconds left in the half.
The dominant offensive possession completely switching in the second half, Seattle U took four straight shots and earned two back-to-back corner kicks in the opening nine minutes of the half. The Redhawks would go on to score three straight goals within a period of just over five minutes.
In the late 56th minute, Stephanie Verdoia (Salt Lake City, Utah) scored her team-leading sixth goal of the season, taking it straight down the middle and into the net, similar to the Eagles’ earlier goal.
Isabelle Butterfield (Bellevue, Wash.) would make it 3-1 in SU’s favor off an assist by Moravec before, just one minute and 11 seconds later, Taylor Ritzman (Holladay, Utah) snuck the ball into the back left corner of the box for a 4-1 Redhawk lead.
Seattle U would outshoot the Eagles, 6-2, over the remainder of the contest as they came away with the convincing 4-1 win after trailing early by a goal.
In goal, Brianna Smallidge (Port Orchard, Wash.) earned the win with four saves while Nathalie Schwery made three for the Eagles.
Natasha Howe (Mission Viejo, Calif.) led Seattle U with six shots while Verdoia contributed four and the Redhawks outshot the Eagles 20-8 overall and 13-3 after half. SU also earned eight corner kicks to Eastern Washington’s one.
The Redhawks hit the road next weekend for a single contest at St. Mary’s on Sunday, Sept. 14 at 2:30 p.m. before returning home to host Washington on Friday, Sept. 19 at 7 p.m.
Stay tuned to GoSeattleU.com as well as Facebook (Seattle U Athletics; Seattle U Women’s Soccer), Twitter (@su_athletics; @seattleuwsoc), and Instagram (su_redhawks; seattleuwsoc) for all the latest updates on the team.