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CHARLESTON, Ill. – Drake scored following three misplays by Eastern Illinois men's soccer's goalkeepers and went to defeat the Panthers, 4-1, Wednesday afternoon at Lakeside Field.
Jerry Maddi scored his second goal of the season in the 68th minute, but EIU (6-8-3, 2-6-1 MVC) already trailed 3-0 at that juncture. Evan Philpott and Ian McCausland helped setup the goal.
The game appeared to be headed into halftime scoreless. However, Hunter Kennedy gave Drake (11-6-1, 6-3-0 MVC) the lead when he scored in the 44th minute. He took advantage of a miscue by Sean Molony and was able to shoot the ball into a wide open after gaining possession on the left side of the 18-yard box. Molony slipped trying to clear the ball with a big kick from inside box.
Garrett Webb scored twice in a span of one minute and 23 seconds early in the second half. He connected with a right-to-left ground shot across the 18-yard box in the 53rd minute and capitalized on another Molony turnover in the 55th minute.
“The game boiled down to mistakes; we made more mistakes,” EIU head coach
Adam Howarth said. “Some goalkeeping errors led to some bad goals. I thought in spells we played pretty well. We certainly had enough chances and got in behind them. That was the frustrating part. From an emotional standpoint, no matter how you look at it, we're trying to play for pride and trying to get things right for Senior Day on Saturday. But whenever you play, you've got to make sure you're ready. We had a couple mental lapses that cost us goals and consequently cost us the game.”
Shailer Thomas replaced Molony in goal after Webb's second goal. The freshman finished out the game, seeing his first action in Missouri Valley Conference play.
Though not as glaring of an error as those that led to Drake's other goals, Thomas was unable to maintain control of a free ball that caromed around the right side of the 18-yard box in the 85th minute. After deflecting off Thomas and a couple other players involved in the play, Charles Schwartz gained possession unmarked near the right post. He had to simply tap the ball into a wide open net.
Maddi scored his first career regular-season goal at Lakeside Field with a blast from 15 yards out in the center of the field after a left-to-right cross. His well-placed shot rocketed inside the right post and into the back of the net.
The Panthers best chance to put within a goal came in the 83rd minute. On a rush up the field,
Kyle Bullock was taken down by the last Drake defender between him and the goal. The foul was ruled to be on the outer edge of the 18-yard in the center of the field.
Jeff Kupiec took the free kick but his shot attempt sailed well over the top of the net.
Molony finished with five saves in 54 minutes of action. Thomas stopped two shots on goal in his 35 minutes of relief. Drake goalkeeper Michael Drozd recorded six saves and played all 90 minutes.
Chris Pearson,
Kyle Zumski, Kupiec and Maddi went the distance for the Panthers. McCausland logged 45 minutes off the bench, playing the entire second half, to lead the reserves.
Eastern's shutout streak at home ended at 356 consecutive minutes when Drake scored in the first half. The four goals against were a season-high at Lakeside Field this year.
The Panthers close out their 2009 season at home Saturday against No. 22 Missouri State. Eastern's five seniors are to be honored for their contributions to the program prior to the 2 p.m. kickoff at Lakeside Field. Missouri State clinched the MVC regular-season title with a win against Evansville Wednesday. The Bears' only conference loss thus far came against the Panthers, Oct. 4 in Springfield.
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