The Panthers (0-3) host WIU (1-2-2) at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday for the 48th all-time meeting in a series that dates back to 1965. It will be Charleston Futbol Club day at the field and area youth are invited to attend sporting their club jerseys. Saturday, EIU makes its first of two road trips to Chicago to take on DePaul (1-2-1) at 4 p.m.
Last year's season- and home-opening loss to Valparaiso snapped the Panthers' three-game win streak in home openers. However, despite leading the all-time series with WIU 31-11-5, EIU has not beaten the Leathernecks in a regular-season game in Charleston since 2001. Western spoiled Eastern's home openers in 2003 and 2005 and posted a 3-0 win in the last regular-season meeting at Lakeside Field. But with EIU earning a draw and an overtime victory in its last two trips to Macomb, the home team has not won in the regular-season series since WIU in 2004.
The two teams did not play last fall for the first time since 1981. The Panthers did win the Governor's Cup meeting in the spring at Lakeside Field, 3-1, behind goals from
Jerry Maddi,
Kyle Bullock and
Grey Genenbacher.
Wednesday's game will be final nonconference matchup in the series for the foreseeable future. Eastern is set to join WIU in The Summit League next fall. Wednesday's game is the second of EIU's four contests against future Summit League rivals this fall.
Despite both teams calling the Land of Lincoln home, EIU and DePaul do not have much history on the pitch. The Panthers have won each of the two previous meetings in blowout fashion. Eastern's 6-2 win on Chicago's North Side in 2000 was only game No. 2 under head coach
Adam Howarth, who is now in his 11th season as the leader of the program.
The Panthers also travel to Chicago Oct. 26 to take on Illinois-Chicago.
Western and DePaul played to a 1-1 draw earlier this month at UIC. Both teams have already played one of EIU's Missouri Valley Conference rivals: Western winning its season opener at SIU Edwardsville and DePaul losing at Creighton Friday. The Blue Demons also dropped their season opener to a Green Bay team that EIU played to a draw during the exhibition schedule.
The Leathernecks represented The Summit League in the NCAA Tournament last fall after winning the conference tourney. Western was picked third in the Summit preseason poll behind UMKC, which EIU plays Oct. 3 in Kansas City, and Oakland University.
Western's roster features predominantly Illinois natives, including Charleston native Kevin Hinds, who is a cousin of EIU's
Jonathan Hinds.
DePaul's Art Garza was a teammate of current Panthers
Tyler Kelley,
Colin Rook and Maddi at Naperville Central High School. Garza has started three of the first four games this year as a freshman and assisted on Alex Mangan's game-winner in the Blue Demons' home-opening win against Florida International. DePaul hosts city rival Loyola Wednesday.
Following Saturday's game, EIU closes September with home dates against IUPUI (Sept. 22) and Western Michigan (Sept. 26) and is slated to play five of its next eight matches at Lakeside Field.
