Coach Chad Bodnar leads remarkable turnaround for Eastern Washington women’s soccer

In soccer, success is all about creating chances and making the most of them.

These days, no one is doing that better than Eastern Washington coach Chad Bodnar, who has taken the Eagles from worst to first in what must be one of the most remarkable sports turnarounds in the Northwest.

In 2013, Eastern was a last-place program that managed three wins and 12 goals in 18 matches.

This week, the Eagles are hosting the Big Sky Conference tournament and chasing their second consecutive NCAA Tournament berth.

And they’re having fun doing it, with a wide-open offense that’s winning fans, recruits and matches.

That same aggressive formula worked for former Eastern coaches Beau Baldwin in football and Jim Hayford on the basketball court. Like them, Bodnar moved up from a lower-division school, in this case Walla Walla Community College.

Apparently, the Eagles like their coaches with a chip on their shoulders.

“It’s not an exact science, but it seems like when they have an opportunity to be a Division I coach, they tend sometimes to flourish a bit more, and they’re more appreciative,” said Eastern athletic director Bill Chaves, who chose Bodnar over several candidates with ties to four-year schools.

Program-building began at record pace after Bodnar was hired in November 2013 to succeed George Hageage.

Once hired, Bodnar and top assistant Max Weber added some young talent while holding together that year’s recruiting class. Among them was Chloe Williams, a forward from Lewis and Clark High School who didn’t even make the all-Greater Spokane League first team that fall.

“Coming in, I didn’t know any different. It was a fresh start,” Williams said. “At first, you just wanted to get on the field.”

Playing as a true freshman, Williams took some lumps at midfield before Bodnar moved her to left wing.

It was a winning move for the player and the program. Now a senior, Williams is the leading scorer in Big Sky history. This week she won the Big Sky Offensive Player of the Year award for the third season in a row.

“Chloe has grown and developed because of the style we play, to isolate her on the wing and give her that freedom,” Bodnar said.

During fall 2014, Bodnar and his staff coaxed a school-record eight wins out of a young lineup while pushing the ball upfield.

The Eagles took only 208 shots that season, but they took better ones as their shooting percentage skyrocketed from 5.4 percent to 13 percent.

A year later, the Eagles scored 34 goals and finished 12-4-3, another school record for wins. Last year, they raised the bar higher, going 13-5-4 despite a late slump that left them in fifth place in the final Big Sky standings.

At that point, the Eagles caught a break. Regular-season champion Idaho couldn’t host the Big Sky Tournament because of a waterlogged field, so the event was moved to Cheney.

Making the most of their home-field advantage, the Eagles won three consecutive games, including a 2-1 penalty-kick shootout over Northern Arizona.

When the final NAU shot sailed over the crossbar, half the Eastern football team joined the soccer players in a midfield celebration. As the Big Sky trophy was presented, Bodnar gathered his players and roared, “We’re still playing, baby!”

Five days later, the Eagles made their NCAA Tournament debut, falling 3-1 at eventual national champion USC.

“It’s another milestone,” Bodnar said of last year’s championship team. “That’s the pinnacle of the conference part of the season, but we have goals here for that to be an expectation.”

This year’s team has a chance to do that. Led by Williams, a much-improved defense and a school-record six all-conference players, the Eagles won the Big Sky regular season and again set the school record for wins. They’re 14-5-1 and looking for more.

If you’re counting, that’s four consecutive record-breaking seasons. Bodnar, however hasn’t been rewarded with a Big Sky Coach of the Year award.

The Eagles have another championship to chase. They host Portland State in Friday’s semifinals. Win that and they’ll play Montana or Northern Colorado in the championship match on Sunday.

Win or lose, the matches are down to a precious few for Williams and the other seniors. She appreciates the opportunity Bodnar gave her and the Eagles.

“What he’s done for the program has been incredible,” Williams said.