Cheney, Washington - After a tough loss on the road Friday, the SUU soccer team bounced back in a big way Sunday afternoon defeating the Eastern Washington Eagles 1-0 to wrap up their regular season road slate.

“Today's game was the Jekyll to Friday's Hyde,” SUU head coach Becky Hogan said about the match. “A tale of two different teams, but at the end of the day every person on the team stepped up today.”

The victory moves the Thunderbirds to 7-7-1 on the season, with a 2-4-1 mark in the Big Sky. The loss for the Eagles was just their second in Big Sky play, as they currently sit with a 5-2 conference mark and an 11-3-1 overall record.

Despite both teams combining for 17 shots in the first half, neither team was able to score in the first 45 minutes leading to a draw at halftime.

The lone goal of the match came when Thunderbird forward Logan Harker broke away from the defense and was able to to the ball into the back of the net to give SUU a 1-0 lead. The goal was Harker's second of the season.

The Thunderbird defense was stout for the remainder of the match, including Taylor Bolding, who played all 90 minutes for the Thunderbirds in goal and was a huge factor finishing the match with 10 saves and no goals allowed.

“We showed grit and determination today,” Hogan said. “The players executed our game plan and showed discipline and determination to succeed.”

EWU outshot the Thunderbirds 20-12, and 12-3 in the second half, but SUU was the only team able to finish.

Abbie Flandro had three shots on goal in the match, but just wasn't able to get one past Eagle keeper Mallory Taylor, who finished the match with five saves and the one goal allowed.  

Overall, Hogan said players showed up all over the field.

“On every line players stepped up and gave it a max effort,” she said. “Our tackling was on point, we were strong in the air, we battled to win every contest. The players were excellent today.”

Next up for the Thunderbirds will be a three match home stand which will be critical for SUU in order to qualify for the Big Sky Tournament.

The three match homestand will being Friday night as rival Weber State will travel to Cedar City, followed by a match against Idaho State on Sunday. SUU's regular season will wrap up on October 30 when SUU hosts Northern Arizona.