DES MOINES, Iowa – Eastern Illinois men's soccer surrendered three goals for the second game in a row and saw its winless streak stretch to six in a 3-1 loss at 25th-ranked Drake Saturday evening.

 

Alex Harrison scored his sixth goal of the season off an assist from Brad Peters in the 69th minute, but the Panthers (5-6-3, 0-2 MVC) already trailed 2-0. Harrison finished off a breakaway opportunity, recording his 11th career goal.

 

“It was a really nice goal,” EIU head coach Adam Howarth said. “Brad created the opportunity, getting past a couple guys. He hit Alex in stride and when he's in a position like that, he's one of the best we have at putting them away. We had them rattled a little at that point, cutting the lead to 2-1. We continued to put them under pressure, but they answered with the third goal.”

 

Eastern dropped both of its Missouri Valley Conference games in 3-1 fashion this week and has allowed multiple goals in four of its last five games. The Panthers are 0-4-2 since winning at Wright State to close out the month of September.

 

Drake (10-3, 2-0 MVC) scored goals in the 24th, 66th and 85th minutes, the second of the two scores coming on a penalty kick. Hunter Kennedy's fifth goal of the season was scored on a header and gave his team a 1-0 halftime lead. Moylan connected on the penalty kick opportunity for his third score of the season and Matt Kuhn capped the scoring with his first goal of the year.

 

Mark Essary made his second start of the week and MVC debut in the loss. The freshman goalkeeper finished with three saves.

 

Drake challenged Essary with six of its 23 shots. All four of the shots EIU was credited with came in the second half.

 

Howarth said the Bulldogs' first goal was the result of a goalkeeping error, as Essary failed to range out and take control of a long service into the 18-yard box. A foul on Chris Pearson led to the penalty kick.

 

“Our defending was shocking at time,” Howarth said. “It was a really bad field to play soccer on. Did it effect the outcome, probably not. They were better on the day. They're a good team that was young last year. But we didn't show what we could do.”

The Panthers return to action Tuesday when they play their final regular-season non-conference game at Butler. Kickoff is slated for 3 p.m. (CDT).

More Info: Contact Ben Turner, Asst. SID