Eastern Illinois at Ball State
Friday, August 23
4 pm at Muncie, Ind.
Live Stats | Watch Live on ESPN+
ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois opens the 2019 season on the road on Friday afternoon at Ball State. The Panthers were 6-8-6 last season marking the most wins by the program since the 2013 season. EIU would finish in a tie for third in the OVC race which was the highest finish for the program since the 2006 season. Ball State was 14-3-3 last season.
OVC PRESEASON POLL: Eastern Illinois was picked to finish fifth in the OVC preseason poll after the Panthers were 4-3-3 last season finishing the season tied for third. EIU advanced to the OVC Tournament semifinals and returns eight starters from last year's team.
RETURNER IN GOAL: Senior
Sara Teteak will open the season as the starter in goal marking the fourth straight year she will mind the nets for the Panthers. Teteak was a second team All-OVC selection last year finishing with a 0.94 goals against average. She has posted 15 career shutouts which ranks third on the EIU all-time list.
CARLSON NAMED PLAYER TO WATCH: Senior defender
Lindsey Carlson was named a Player to Watch for the Panthers as the Ohio Valley Conference released its preseason information. Carlson helped anchor a defensive unit that help post the third most shutouts in program history. Carlson was named to the OVC All-Tournament team and was an All-OVC selection during the 2017 season.
EXHIBITION PLAY: Eastern Illinois posted a 1-1-1 record in exhibition play as the Panthers prep for the season opener. EIU lost to Northern Iowa before posting a 1-1 draw against Northern Illinois and a 2-1 win over Evansville. EIU had goals scored by
Pilar Barrio,
Itxaso Aguero and
Lexi Ketterhagen.
GOAL SCORERS RETURN: EIU returns eight starters from last season including the team's top five goal scorers.
Haylee Renick,
Lexi Ketterhagen,
Sarah DeWolf,
Itxaso Aguero and
Pilar Barrio all scored two or more goals last season.
HANNAH HEINZ RETURNS TO TEAM: Forward
Hannah Heinz has officially returned to the women's soccer program this fall. Heinz was one of the Panthers top goal scorer's two seasons ago before being diagnosed with cancer near the end of the 2018 spring season. She underwent treatment against the disease with the EIU team rallying around her for a Hope for Hannah match last fall. Heinz is now back on the team and looking to see action on the pitch during this upcoming season.
SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Illinois and Ball State will be meeting for the fourth time with the Cardinals holding a 2-1 all-time series lead. BSU has won the last two matches in the series including a 3-0 win in 2013.
NEXT UP: Following the season opener at Ball State on Friday evening, EIU will return to action the following Friday, August 30 with a night match at Kansas City. The home opener is the following weekend on Sunday, Sept. 8 against Purdue Fort Wayne.
HEAD COACH: Jake Plant enters his second 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 both the men's and women's program for two years with one additional season as an assistant for the men's program before being named EIU women's head coach last season. Plant led EIU to a 6-8-6 record in his first season including a 4-3-3 record in OVC play. He is a native of Birmingham, England. He is assisted by
Dirk Bennett.
