Women's Soccer 12/4/2019 1:36:00 PM Yasmin Mookerdum, Sports Information Graduate Assistant Women’s Soccer Historic Season Ends with 1-0 Loss in NAIA Quarterfinals ORANGE BEACH, Ala.- In their first appearance in the NAIA Championships Quarterfinals, the Eastern Oregon women's soccer team fell to the No. 12 Knights of Marian University 1-0 on Wednesday morning. The Knights struck early in the quarterfinal matchup that proved to be the difference in the close contest. Just six minutes into the opening 45, Marian drove up the left hand side of the field and whipped in a cross to the far post, which found an unmarked Drew Manson who put the ball in the net, giving her team the early 1-0 advantage. 84 minutes later it stood as the game winner for the Knights. Marian University comfortably controlled most of the first half with possession and opportunities, outshooting the Mountaineers 9-4. The Mounties looked much better in the second half, creating some dangerous looks. The scoring chances for EOU started to pour in with 25 minutes left. The best opportunity came from a cross out wide that found lone forward Lindsay Balkenbush, whose shot was saved by the goal post. Minutes later, Balkenbush was fouled at the top of the box, awarding EOU with a free kick. Senior Josee Bassett took the free kick and sent it just over the cross bar. The Mountie attack was constantly peppering the Marian goal in the second half, putting up shots left and right to earn a 6-1 advantage in shots in the half. Unfortunately, the shots were not falling in favor of the Blue and Gold and the Knights early goal was enough to seal the win and send the Mounties home. The Mountaineer defense in the second half limited the Knights to just one shot throughout 45 minutes. Goalkeeper Savannah Hutchinson recorded two saves. Freshman Erika Skindlov led the team with two shots on goal. After a historic run, the Eastern Oregon women's soccer season has come to end in the quarterfinals of the NAIA Championships. The team had a very successful season, from winning the CCC conference tournament title for the second time in program history to advancing to the NAIA quarterfinals for the first time ever and scoring their first goal at the final site. Each of the last three years the team has improved by one round at the national tournament and will look to make it even further in 2020. The team says farewell to its five seniors in Bassett, Nan Kiebert, Abri Cardenas, Cydni Cottrell and Jenna Jensen, who led the team to two CCC regular season and tournament titles and three-straight national tournament appearances. For more information on Eastern Oregon women's soccer, follow @EOUAthletics or visit eousports.com. FOLLOW EOU ATHLETICS Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube Contact: Iain Dexter; 541-962-3946; idexter@eou.edu