CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Kaylin Lorbert was credited with nine saves in net, helping Eastern Illinois women's soccer battle Austin Peay to a scoreless draw Sunday afternoon that moved the Panthers into a tie for sixth place in the Ohio Valley Conference standings.

 

Lorbert and the Panthers (2-12-2, 2-4-1 OVC) posted their third consecutive shutout Sunday. Eastern has not given up a goal in the last 355 minutes of game action, while Lorbert has not surrendered a score for 338 consecutive minutes.

 

The scoreless affair was EIU's second of the season, with Lorbert being in net for both, and second in as many meetings against APSU (4-10-2, 1-3-2 OVC) in Clarksville.

The Panthers are now tied with Jacksonville State (2-3-1, seven points) for sixth place. The top six teams in the final standings qualify for the conference tournament. Eastern closes out OVC play Sunday against Southeast Missouri. The Panthers will need a standings point in that game to have a chance at a berth.

Eastern could get in with a win/draw and a pair of JSU losses or a win and a pair of losses by Tennessee Tech (3-2-1, 10 points). Jax State owns a potential tiebreaker with EIU, but the Panthers have a similar advantage in the event of a tie with Tech.

JSU hosts Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky next weekend. Tech plays at UT Martin and Murray State.

 

“This was definitely a tough game to swallow,” EIU head coach Tim Nowak said. “We did not play particularly well today and you have to credit Austin Peay for a very well played game on its end. I am proud of our ability to stay tough and focused defensively for the entire 110 minutes. Our back four and Kaylin really kept us in there. This weekend's games (the Panthers won at Tech Friday) were a testament to how far we've come this year, in that we were able to gut out two very different types of games and found ways to get results.

"Toward the end of the OTs we had a great chance but the bounce did not go our way when Pam [Melinauskas] worked herself into a great scoring position. Those are the breaks of the game. We got four tough, hard-earned points on the road in the OVC this weekend and that's never easy. Now we will focus on a big home game next Sunday.”