@UNC_BearsSoccer beats preseason favorite EWU, moves to 3-0

Sunday, September 30

Greeley, CO

12 pm

University of Northern Colorado

7-5 (3-0)

Eastern Washington

5-5-3 (1-2-1)

Eastern Washington

Northern Colorado

Taylor Washington helped UNC beat Eastern Washington to move to 3-0 in Big Sky play.

9/30/2018 3:52:00 PM | Women's Soccer

Box Score

By: Ryan Ronan

Sunday's match between Northern Colorado and Eastern Washington was likely considered the match of the Big Sky season when the schedules came out. If indeed it turns out to the biggest match of the season, the Bears made a huge statement. Early in the first half, Courtney Elterman took the ball through the box, fought off numerous Eagle defenders and beat Kelsee Winston to open the scoring. Elterman's effort set the tone for the remainder of the match as UNC went up by three goals on the way to a 3-1 win.

"The opening minutes of a match are always going to be back-and-forth and the ball was moving kind of quick, but we did a good job of settling in," said UNC head coach Tim Barrera. "It was going to be a game with not a lot of shots the way the teams where playing, it was a very good win for the team."

It was built as a rematch of the Big Sky Tournament title game, but the teams came in with very different rosters that had one thing in common, youth. So the Bears ability to overcome the adrenaline rush proved to be a key to the victory.

"We came out a little frantic," said freshman Lexi Pulley. "We started playing to feet more, got some balls wide and played our crosses better just helped us a lot."

A key theme in the pair of home wins, Friday vs. Idaho, was UNC's ability to get on the board first.

"It gives us the chance to settle down. We got to get some subs in and get people some minutes. We had a lot of players step up today," Barrera said.

The youth extends throughout the roster for the Bears, all the way back to the net where Taylor Washington played another great game.

"Having my teammates get the lead early is honestly a huge sigh of relief," said Washington. "It's always a good thing when we have the ball and I don't have to touch it much."

UNC added to its lead early in the second with an incredible goal by Lindsi Jennings. She took a free kick from near midfield and put it in the back of the net for the Bears second goal of the match.

Pulley all but closed out the match when she scored the goal of the match off a corner kick from Maddie Duren that was played first by Maddie Barkow. It was Pulley's second goal of the weekend.

"I was just playing wide and Barkow's header came right to me and so it kind of just worked out perfectly," Pulley said.

Sunday was just the second time in 13 matches that EWU had allowed three goals.

If the match against EWU was the preseason match of the season, Friday's game against Weber State might become the new match of the season. The Wildcats are coming off a 1-0 win over Sacramento State, which moved their BSC record to 3-0-1, joining UNC as the only unbeaten teams in the conference.

"The tough part now is that we have to get on the road. Four of our final six are on the road. The important thing is that we got a pair of wins at home over the weekend," Barrera said.