Saturday, November 5 - at IUPUI 7 pm [Live Stats]

One More Match: The stakes couldn't be higher for the Eastern Illinois men's soccer team as they head into their final match of the 2016 season at IUPUI. Both teams will close out conference and season play Saturday evening as the Panthers fight for a spot in the Summit League postseason tournament. EIU enters Saturday's match 5-10-1 overall and 2-3-0 in the conference after dropping their most recent match at Cincinnati 3-1 Tuesday evening. 

One Match To Rule Them All: This Saturday the Panthers will look to do something they have not accomplished since 2008, qualify for their conference championship tournament. The last time EIU made it into the postseason they were still members of the Missouri Valley Conference. The Panthers have made it into the Summit League postseason before back in 1994 when it was known as the Mid-Continent Conference, but have yet to qualify since re-joining the league in 2011. 

Where EIU Stacks Up: The Summit League final rankings will fall into place after the final day of competition Saturday. Currently numbers four through six in the conference standings are all tied with two wins and six points each. Two of those teams, Fort Wayne and Western Illinois, play each other in their final match while Oral Roberts takes on Omaha who is 4-0-1 in conference play. The Panthers will close out their conference season at IUPUI who is last in the conference with a 0-5 Summit League record. In most scenarios, if EIU can win or tie against the Jaguars then the Panthers will advance to the Summit League tournament. 

New Kids On The Block: The Panther freshmen on the men's soccer roster have been enjoying a lot of success this season for EIU. Jonathan Huerta recorded his first career goal to prevent the shut out at Cincinnati Tuesday evening. Huerta is now one of five Panthers to record at least one assist and one goal so far this season. Newcomers Marcus Menniti and Tyler Enright joined the elite group in EIU's match against Western Illinois as Enright fed Menniti for a goal against the Leathernecks. Freshman Alex Castaneda leads the team with three goals on the season.  So far this year six of EIU's 15 season goals and six of their nine assists have all come from first year players on the Panther squad.

A Brick Wall: Mike Novotny has been a huge asset to the Panthers in the net as of late. The junior keeper was awarded his second straight Summit League Defensive Player of the Week following his performance against Western Illinois Saturday. Novotny recorded six saves in the match against WIU earning his third straight shut out and fourth of the season so far. Novotny is 5-8-1 on the season after the match at Cincinnati. The St. Charles, Ill. native currently ranks second in the Summit League for total saves with 53 and saves per game with a 3.53 average. He also ranks third in the conference for goals against average (1.28) and save percentage (0.74).

Scouting Report: IUPUI welcomes the Panthers to Indianapolis with a 1-15-1 overall record while going 0-5-0 in Summit League play. The Jaguars have gone to double overtime in two of their last three matches with a 5-0 loss at Valparaiso in their most recent contest. This will be the 13th meeting all-time between the two schools as the Jaguars hold a slight 5-4-3 edge over EIU. The Panthers only conference win last season came against IUPUI. The Jaguars' Josh Gray is one of the top goalkeepers in the Summit League leading the conference in both total saves (72) and saves per game (4.80). Offensively the forward duo of Uriel Macias and Pape Ndiaye have combined to score five of IUPUI's eight goals on the season.

Looking Ahead: Depending on how the matches against IUPUI and around the Summit League turn out, the Panthers' season will either end or continue into the Summit League postseason tournament following Saturday's match.