CHARLESTON, Ill. – Saint Xavier scored on an early penalty kick and was also the beneficiary of an own goal, the only scoring of the day in the Cougars' 2-0 exhibition victory against Eastern Illinois men's soccer Wednesday afternoon at Lakeside Field.

The Panthers have had only two days of practice since preseason training opened Monday. The lack of cohesiveness showed at times. Eastern only managed to put three of its 16 shots on goal and could not capitalize on any of its 11 corner kicks.

 

“The whole point of it is for us to take a look at some of the younger guys and get a good chance to see them play,” EIU head coach Adam Howarth said. “People think I'm crazy playing a game so early, but I think it's good for us. Rather than be monotonous and only train, this gives us a good idea of where we're at. We've got a few things to work on. A penalty kick and an own goal were their two goals, so I'm not overly displeased by the performance.”

Al Palar converted on a penalty kick opportunity after a SXU player was taken down on the inside edge of the 18-yard box in the 29th minute. The own goal came in the 50th minute when Mike Picinich inadvertently sent a back pass past EIU goalkeeper Tyler Kelley. Matt Klancic was crashing the play aggressively and helped disrupt the timing of the defensive maneuver.



The Panthers had an Ian McCausland goal disallowed by an offsides call in the 62nd minute. About two minutes later, Jerry Maddi hit the crossbar with a header after a post-corner kick scramble.

Twenty-one of the 25 EIU players on the roster saw action. Alex Koch and Picinich were the only Panthers to go the distance. The three goalkeepers each played 30 minutes. Kelley made the lone save and it was an impressive one, diving to his right to deflect away a well-struck shot headed toward the left post in the 54th minute.

 

Saint Xavier goalkeeper Kyle Held played the first 60 minutes and made a pair of diving saves, deflecting away shots by Maddi in the 24th and 58th minutes.

 

Alex Harrison did not return to the game after getting taken down in the 37th minute. He was able to walk off the field under his own power. But SXU also lost a pair of starters early in the game, with neither player returning to the field.

 

The game was played with three 30-minute periods. Of the 11 EIU players on the field to open the second period, six are new to the program this fall. Zach Piekarski was the lone newcomer in the starting lineup, although he did play with the program during the spring season after transferring in at the semester.

 

Kendal Spurgin's 60 minutes played were tops among the EIU reserves. He finished out the game after taking the field for the first time to start the second period. Darby Kehoe and Kyle Bullock played the entire first and third periods.

Eastern continues its exhibition schedule with the annual Intrasquad game, set for Sunday at 5 p.m. It will feature the EIU upperclassmen vs. underclassmen and is open to the public. Prizes will be tossed into the crowd after goals are scored and the team will be signing schedule posters after the game.