Eastern Illinois (2-4-1) at DePaul (2-5)
Saturday, September 18
3:30 pm at Chicago, Ill.
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ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois travels to DePaul on Saturday afternoon as the Panthers will play a 1 p.m. match in the Windy City. EIU enters at 2-4-1 overall following a tightly contested home loss to Central Michigan (L, 1-0) last Sunday at home. DePaul enters at 2-5 on the season. The Blue Demons have lost four straight matches all by a 1-0 score.
GOALS BY COMMITTEE: Serra Pizano scored the goal in the win over Chicago State as she became the fourth different Panther to find the back of the net this season.
Nicoletta Anuci is the team leader with two goals after she scored a brace in the win over Illinois Springfield.
Michaela Danyo and
Zenaya Barnes have also scored this season. Anuci and Barnes lead the team with nine shots each including five on goal.
EIU PICKS UP HOME WIN: Eastern Illinois picked up its second home win of the season when the Panthers beat Chicago State 1-0. The Panthers are now 2-2 at Lakeside Field this season following last Sunday's contest with Central Michigan. EIU posted a 2-3 record at home during the spring after going 3-3-2 at Lakeside Field during the 2019 campaign.
EIU POSTS THIRD SHUTOUT OF THE SEASON: Eastern Illinois posted its third shutout of the season with a 1-0 win over Chicago State. In the match goalkeeper
Faith Davies had a clean sheet but a good bit of the credit goes to the Panthers backline as EIU did not allow CSU to attempt a shot on goal. The backline included
Eva Munoz,
Morgan Rinker and
Sarah Hagg who all played the complete 90 minutes on the field.
Mara Kades started in the back row but was replaced by
Lauren Frick following an injury.
FIFTH YEAR LEADERS: Eastern Illinois had three players take advantage of the extra year of eligibility granted by the NCAA due to COVID-19 impacting the fall season in 2020. EIU returns fifth year players
Itxaso Aguero,
Pilar Barrio and
Eva Munoz. All three players who are originally from Spain will be returning after starting matches in each of the previous four seasons.
BALCEREK LISTED AS OVC PLAYER TO WATCH: Midfielder Kenzie Balcerek was named the EIU Player to Watch in the OVC this year as she returns for her third year as a starter on the squad. Balcerek played all but six minutes on the pitch last spring finishing with one assist. As a freshman in 2019 she started the first 11 matches of the season registering one assist before a season ending injury.
THREE A MAGIC NUMBER: Eastern Illinois scored three goals during its Aug. 22 win over Illinois Springfield. It was the sixth time in the last four seasons that EIU has scored three goals in a match, the Panthers posting a 6-0 record in those contests. EIU's last three goal match was last spring with a 3-2 win over Jacksonville State on March 30.
SERIES HISTORY: This will be the ninth meeting between Eastern Illinois and DePaul. The Panthers hold a 5-2-1 all-time series with the teams last meeting in 2006 with a 1-1 draw.
NEXT UP: Following the single match at DePaul, Eastern Illinois returns home to open Ohio Valley Conference play on Sunday, Sept. 26 hosting Morehead State.
HEAD COACH: Jake Plant enters his fourth 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 in 2018. Plant led EIU to a 6-8-6 record in his first season including a 4-3-3 record in OVC play. In 2019, he once again took EIU to the OVC Tournament winning a first-round match. He enters his fourth season with a record of 12-25-11 with an 8-15-7 record in OVC matches. He is a native of Birmingham, England. He is assisted by
Dirk Bennett.
