Game 11 – Wednesday, Oct. 13
Eastern Illinois (3-7, 0-2 MVC) at Central Arkansas (3-7, 0-1 MVC), 4 p.m.
Game 12 – Saturday, Oct. 16
SIU Edwardsville (6-4-1, 1-0 MVC) at Eastern Illinois, 2 p.m.
Eastern Illinois will play two Missouri Valley Conference matches this week starting with a Wednesday contest at Central Arkansas and a home contest with SIU Edwardsville on Saturday. UCA and SIUE are both new members to the Missouri Valley Conference. The Panthers head into the week with a 3-7 record and 0-2 mark in the MVC following a 1-0 home loss to Missouri State last Saturday. UCA is also 3-7 and is 0-1 in the MVC with a loss to Missouri State in late September. SIUE is 6-4-1, 1-0 in the MVC after knocking off Bradley on Saturday.
Head coach Adam Howarth is in his 11th season as the head coach for the Eastern Illinois men's soccer program. A former EIU player, Howarth has compiled a 78-99-19 career mark with the Panthers. Howarth has compiled a 19-55-8 record in the Missouri Valley Conference. EIU is 2-0 all-time against UCA and 8-13-4 all-time against SIUE.
Eastern Illinois is coming off four straight 1-0 losses as the Panthers fell in weekend action versus Missouri State. The Panthers have now played in eight 1-0 matches with two wins and six losses. Both 1-0 wins for the Panthers came at Lakeside Field as EIU picked up 1-0 victories over Western Illinois and IUPUI. The Panthers season had been filled with a series of threes as they opened with three shutout losses, picked up three straight shutout wins and had three shutout losses prior to the setback against Missouri State.
Alex Harrison went his tenth straight match this season without a point as the senior continues to sit at 50 points for his career. Harrison needs one more assist this season to move into seventh place on the EIU career assists list. Harrison nearly broke through against Missouri State as his shot with ten minutes remaining hit the post.
EIU goalkeeper Sean Molony turned away five shots on goal against Missouri State as he increased his career saves total to 126. Molony now ranks second among MVC active goalkeepers in career saves. His career 1.18 goals against average is fifth on the active list. He is currently 4th in the MVC in GAA at 0.89 while his 53 saves this season rank second in the league.
The Panthers will face a critical run of matches in the next week as they will play the three teams selected just around them in the preseason Missouri Valley Conference poll. EIU was selected to finish seventh in the coaches preseason ranking with Wednesday's opponent picked to finish eighth. SIUE was tabbed to finish in sixth place while Bradley was picked in fifth place. The Panthers will host Bradley on Oct. 20 at Lakeside Field. The top six teams in the regular season standings advance to the MVC Tournament.
