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CHARLESTON, Ill. – As Eastern Illinois women's soccer heads to Tennessee for its final road trip of the Ohio Valley Conference season, the Panthers need to post as many wins as possible to keep pace in the league tournament chase.
Eastern (1-12-1, 1-4 OVC) takes on Tennessee Tech (3-10-1, 2-1-1 OVC) Friday at 4 p.m. in Cookeville. Sunday, the Panthers conclude the road trip with a 2 p.m. game against Austin Peay (4-9-1, 1-2-1 OVC) in Clarksville.
Even though it took until this past Sunday for EIU to pick up its first win of the season, the Panthers are still very much alive in the OVC Tournament chase thanks to some general parity in the league this year.
Take for example last Friday's opponent Eastern Kentucky. The Colonels entered their EIU-Southeast Missouri road trip in seventh place in the standings with three points. After winning both of its games and picking up six points, EKU jumped to second.
The Panthers could make a similar surge in the standings with a pair of victories this weekend. However, EIU can ill afford losses as well. That's because the Panthers have played one more conference game than many of the teams ahead of them and have earned just one potential tiebreaker thus far.
Tennessee Tech enters the weekend having surrendered a league-high 43 goals. The Golden Eagles did play the toughest non-conference schedule in the league though, giving 36 of those scores against opponents that featured a combined .569 winning percentage when OVC play began.
Tech has been playing better as of late under first-year head coach Becky Fletcher. The Golden Eagles opened October with an overtime win against EKU and shutout Austin Peay last weekend.
With the last two EIU-Tech meetings in Cookeville having ended in a draw, the Panthers have not won at the Tech Soccer Field since 2001.
Laura Ridolfi scored her first career goal in the 2006 draw.
Austin Peay scored a season-high four goals in a non-conference win against the Virginia Military Institute Sunday. The Lady Govs feature the league's active career scoring leader, senior Ashley Beck (29 goals, 63 points).
Eastern is 5-0-1 all-time against APSU. That lone draw was a scoreless affair in Clarksville two years ago. The Panthers won last year's meeting in Charleston, 2-0.
Alexis Miller scored EIU's second goal.
When the season began, next Sunday's OVC finale against Southeast Missouri (0-3-2 OVC) at Lakeside Field loomed as a game that could determine a first-round OVC tournament bye. Two months later, it appears that game could now decide the final tourney berth. SEMO also takes on Austin Peay and Tech this weekend.
Both EIU and SEMO have already played five of the top six teams in this week's standings. UT Martin, Jacksonville State and Tech are currently in a three-way tie for fourth with seven points apiece.
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Ben Turner, Asst. SID
