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Eastern Illinois at Missouri State
Sept. 15 at 7 pm
Springfield, MO. (Betty and Bobby Allison South Stadium)
Live Stats

Panthers Continue Road Trip
Eastern Illinois Men's Soccer will head out to Springfield, MO for a match with the Missouri State Bears on Wednesday, September 15.  EIU comes into the match with a record of 0-4 after a tough 2-1 loss on Sunday afternoon at Bellarmine.  Missouri State, which is coming off of a 3-1 home win over Central Arkansas last Wednesday, enters the match with a record of 3-1. Kickoff is set for 7 pm.

Okonny and Kirschner Make Their Presence Known
Freshman Forward Prince Okonny netted his first career goal in the 39th minute of the loss to Northern Illinois.  It was also the first goal of the season for the Panthers.  It marked the second straight season in which the first goal of the season for EIU was scored by a true freshman.  Then-freshman Midfielder Julian Smith scored the Panthers' first goal of the season last Spring against Bradley.  Against Bellarmine, Junior Forward Lenni Kirschner scored the first goal of his EIU career in the 73rd minute.  Kirschner led the Panthers in the game with four shots, including two shots on goal.

Fresh Faces 
EIU adds seven newcomers who are enrolling as freshmen, including Chad Smith, William Bruce, Nana Nnuro-Frimpong, Prince Okonny, Jared Cornejo, Trey Gora, and Micah McReynolds.  A native of Cincinnati, Okonny earned first team All-Cincinnati Greater Catholic League honors in his senior year, ranking first in the league in goals with ten and second in the league in overall points with 16 on six assists.  Gora, a native of Bartlett, Ill., was a two-time All-Metro Suburban Conference selection in high school. Smith, who also hails from Cincinnati, earned first team All-Great Miami Conference honors and first-team All-City honors his senior year, posting six shutouts in the process.  McReynolds, who comes from Mason, OH, was a first team All-GMC selection in 2020 and a second-team honoree in 2019.

Back for More 
The Panthers return several key players from last year's team, including the team's leader in both goals and overall points, Reed Axthelm.  Shady Omar, Alejandro Lurbe, and Maxwell Allen also return for EIU's offense after each scored two goals last season.  The four players combined for 42 shots last season, 19 of which were on goal.  Allen led the team with four shots, including three shots on goal, in the loss to Purdue Fort Wayne.

Burke and Axthelm Named Players To Watch
Senior Goalkeeper Jonathan Burke and Senior Forward Reed Axthelm were both named players to watch for the 2021 season by The Summit League. Burke led The Summit League with 69 saves in nine starts in the Spring 2021 season and Axthelm scored a team-high three goals for the Panthers last season.  Burke leads the Panthers with ten saves on the season.

Series History
This will be the seventh all-time meeting between EIU and Missouri State.  The Panthers are 1-5 all-time against the Bears.  In the last meeting between the two teams, Missouri State beat EIU 3-0 in Springfield on October 5, 2016.

On Tap
EIU will return home next Tuesday, September 21 to take on the Green Bay Phoenix. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 pm.

Head Coach
Ronnie Bouemboue begins his second season as Panthers head coach.  Before EIU, he was the assistant head coach at IUPUI.  Bouemboue is the tenth men's soccer head coach at Eastern Illinois.  The Brooklyn, New York native was an accomplished player at North Carolina State, where he was a two-time All-ACC team selection.  Bouemboue has been on the coaching staff of Bradley, North Carolina State, and IUPUI.