Mountaineers Shutout Battlin' Bears to Improve to 2-0 in CCC Play
EOU Sports Information
LA GRANDE, Ore. – Eastern Oregon University Men’s Soccer suffered its second consecutive loss on Monday afternoon as the team fell to Rocky Mountain College 3-1 inside Community Stadium. With the loss, EOU falls to 1-4 overall and 0-2 in CCC East Division play.
EOU found the back of the net three times thanks to the efforts of 10 shots taken in the game, with six coming on goal. Rocky Mountain (0-2, 0-2 CCC) was three back with seven and had just one come on goal. For EOU, three different players scored in the win. The first goal of the contest for the Mountaineers came in the 25th minute on a penalty kick attempt by Mackinley Gregus. She was fouled inside the penalty area by the Battlin’ Bears goalkeeper which allowed her the chance at the PK shot. She hit the lower right corner with ease to put EOU ahead 1-0.
The Mountaineers matched their goal total from game one 13 minutes later when Kasey Johnson made it a 2-0 lead in the 37th minute. Gregus played a corner kick into the penalty area and Johnson found the back of the net from less than a yard for her first goal of the year. EOU took the 2-0 lead into halftime and was superb on offense. They only took three shots for the half but had two come on goal with success. Coming out of the 15-minute halftime break, Eastern added a third goal to keep any hopes of comeback at bay.
The third and final goal for Eastern came early in the second period for the Mounties. This time it was Morgan Farrington who netted the goal. A long pass from midfield was played to Sarah Mitchell outside the box and she played a smooth no look header pass to Farrington who nailed the shot to the lower left end of the net to seal the game at its final of 3-0. In the second half, EOU took seven shots to force the pressure on offense. Defensively, EOU limited the Battlin’ Bears to just three shots in the second period. For the game, the mountaineers had nine fouls, while Ricky Mountain finished with seven.
Mackinley Gregus had the gamewinning goal on her PK attempt to lead the Mountaineers yet again. She finished with two shots and had one come on goal. She also tallied one assist. Morgan Farrington only took one shot for the game that led to her score. Like Farrington, Kasey Johnson only had one shot for the game that netted her first goal of the year. Cailin Koupal had the most shots for EOU, finishing with three and had one come on goal. Goalkeeper Kiara Fontanilla tallied one save in the shutout win. She has now posted shutouts in three of the four wins this season.
For the Battin’ Bears, Tiara Duford had two shots overall and one shot on goal to lead Rocky Mountain. Halle Labert also finished with two shots in the loss. In net, Maia Wetzel tallied a game-high three saves in 90 minutes of action.
EOU will now hit the road for the first time this season as they will head to Helena, Mont. to take on the Carroll College Saints on March 14 and 15. Game times for both Sunday and Monday’s matches are set for 11 a.m. PT.