Eastern Illinois (3-5-3, 2-1-1 OVC) vs. Belmont (3-3-2, 1-0-1 OVC)
Friday, September 28
3 pm at Lakeside Field
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Eastern Illinois vs. UT Martin (7-2, 2-0 OVC)
Sunday, September 30
1 pm at Lakeside Field
Live Stats |
ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois gets set to host a second straight big home weekend of Ohio Valley Conference women's soccer action. After going 1-1 last week against then top OVC teams, Murray State and Austin Peay, the Panthers will once again host teams in the upper half of the conference standings this weekend. On Friday EIU hosts Belmont who comes into the match with a 3-3-2 record and 1-0-1 record in the OVC. The Bruins four points place them fifth in the league standings. On Sunday, EIU will host UT Martin. The Skyhawks are third in the OVC in points with six points and a 2-0 OVC record. UTM is 7-2 overall. EIU is currently in second play in the OVC points race with seven points.
EARLY OVC POINTS: Eastern Illinois has gotten off to a good start in the Ohio Valley Conference as the Panthers are currently in second place in the league standings with a 2-1-1 record and seven points. The last time that EIU won two matches in the OVC and had seven points in a season was 2015 when EIU was 2-7-1 in OVC play. The seven points this season are the earliest EIU has opened this well in a conference schedule since 2013 when EIU opened 4-0 in OVC play and finished 6-4 overall. The 2013 season marked the last time that EIU has made the OVC Tournament field.
URTEAGA SOLID ON THE BACK LINE: Henar Urteaga was solid in leading the Panthers back defensive line over the weekend including during a shutout win over Austin Peay. Urteaga helped the Panthers limit APSU to just two shots on goal in the match including no shots in the second half. This season she has played between the midfield and back row playing all 1,043 minutes. She has one assist this season.
OLSON ADDS TO POINT TOTAL: Kate Olson scored three points on the weekend with a goal on Friday against Murray State and an assist on the game winning goal Sunday against Austin Peay. Olson now has 14 career points at EIU with five career goals and four career assists. This season Olson has played all 1,043 minutes on the pitch and last Sunday went over 5,000 minutes played for her career.
STOLFA GAME WINNER: Senior
Kayla Stolfa scored the game winner last Sunday against Austin Peay as she earned her first points of the season. It was the first career game winning goal for Stolfa and the second goal of her EIU career after scoring as a sophomore against IUPUI. Last season Stolfa was the team leader with six assists.
SENIOR DAY: Eastern Illinois will honor the four members of its senior class this Sunday when the Panthers host UT Martin at 1 pm. The four seniors on this year's team are
Kate Olson,
Kayla Stolfa,
Maddie Lyon and
Elisabeth Held.
HOPE FOR HANNAH: Eastern Illinois will play its final home match of the season – Thursday, Oct. 11 – in honor of current teammate
Hannah Heinz who was diagnosed with cancer in the spring and is currently battling the disease. The EIU team will be wearing green socks in support of Hannah and her fight. More information on the Hope For Hannah Match will be released in the coming days.
SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Illinois and Belmont will be meeting for the ninth time this Friday when the two teams meets at 3 p.m. Belmont holds a 5-3 all-time series lead with four straight wins in the series. Last season Belmont won 2-0 in Nashville. EIU's last win in the series was 2013 when EIU opened OVC play that season with a 1-0 overtime win against the Bruins. On Sunday, EIU and UT Martin will be meeting for the 24th time in school history. EIU holds a 13-9-1 all-time series lead. UTM won last season in Martin, Tennessee, 1-0.
NEXT UP: Following the two home matches this weekend, EIU will travel to SIUE next Sunday to play the Cougars at 1 pm.
HEAD COACH: Jake Plant enters his first season as the head coach of the Eastern Illinois women's soccer team. A 2014 EIU alumnus and former member of the Panthers men's soccer program, Plant was the assistant coach for the both the men's and women's program for the last two years with one additional season as an assistant for the men's program. He is a native of Birmingham, England. He is assisted by
Janet Cassidy and
Dirk Bennett.
