FORT WAYNE, Ind. - The Panthers clinched the fourth spot in the 2017 Summit League Tournament with their 2-1 overtime win at Fort Wayne Saturday night. 

The Mastodons scored first in the 16th minute of play. Zach Tom set Romain Lopez up with a cross pass to the middle of the field. Lopez shot from ten yards out finding the back of the net for Fort Wayne and scoring his fourth goal this season. 

EIU was held scoreless until the second half when Zach Medawattage tied the game 1-1. Medawattage scored on a header off a free kick for the Panthers at the 73:07 minute mark. Erik Isaksson tallied the assist on the play.

Overtime did not last long as Medawattage scored the game winning goal 33 seconds into the period. Federico Verlichi took a corner kick setting Medawattage up for the header into the goal making it his third goal for EIU this season.

The Panthers finished the game with 11 shots total and five on goal. Fabio Collado took three shots with two on goal. Verlichi finished with one shot on goal and one assist.

Goalkeeper Mike Novotny stopped the ball three times for the Panthers. He has logged 1,622 minutes in the net recorded 86 saves this regular season with a save percentage of .835.

The Summit League Tournament begins Thursday Nov. 9 in Omaha, Neb. Eastern Illinois (4-8-6, 2-2-1 SL) will face top-seeded Denver (10-6-1, 5-0-0 SL) at 2 p.m. Thursday afternoon.