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Eastern Illinois (1-2-1) vs. Chicago State (0-2)
Friday, September 3
3:30 pm at Lakeside Field (Charleston, Ill.) 
Live Stats

Eastern Illinois at Cincinnati (2-1-1)
Sunday, September 5
5 pm at Cincinnati, Ohio 
Watch on ESPN+  |  Live Stats

 
ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois will play two matches over the weekend for the second straight week as the Panthers host Chicago State on Friday afternoon and travel to Cincinnati on Sunday evening.  EIU played a Friday/Sunday swing last week at Purdue Fort Wayne and Wisconsin picking up a tie at PFW before losing at Wisconsin.  EIU enters the weekend at 1-2-1 overall.   Chicago State comes into the week with an 0-2 record while Cincinnati has posted a 2-1-1 record on the season.
 
PLAYING EXTRA SOCCER: Eastern Illinois and Purdue Fort Wayne played to a 0-0 draw in double overtime last Friday evening.  It was the first overtime soccer match of the season for the Panthers.  Last spring EIU had three of its ten matches go to extra time with the Panthers going 1-1-1 in those three matches.  Under head coach Jake Plant this marked the 16th time that EIU has had a match reach overtime.   The Panthers are 1-4-11 in overtime matches in the last four seasons.
 
SHUTOUT STREAK: With last Friday's 0-0 draw at Purdue Fort Wayne it marked the second shutout of the season for goalkeeper Faith Davies.   The tie gave the Panthers back-to-back matches with allowing zero goals by the opponent.  It was the first time since early October 2019 that EIU had posted back-to-back shutouts.  During that season EIU mirrored their 2021 results in terms of scores with a 3-0 win over Morehead State and 0-0 draw with Southern Illinois.    This year it was a 3-0 win over Illinois Springfield followed by a 0-0 draw with Purdue Fort Wayne.   

ANUCI BRACE LEADS PANTHERS SCORING: Nicoletta Anuci scored a brace in the Panthers 3-0 win over Illinois Springfield in the opening week of the season.  Anuci currently leads the Panthers in scoring as the Panthers also have goals this year by Zenaya Barnes and Michaela Danyo.    Last season in ten matches played during the spring semester, EIU registered only five total goals with Anuci and Itxaso Aguero the team leaders with two goals each.   
 
VS. THE BIG TEN: Eastern Illinois played at Big Ten member Wisconsin last Sunday marking the first time EIU has played a member of the Big Ten Conference since the 2012 season when the Panthers lost 2-1 in overtime at Purdue.  EIU did face Illinois this season in exhibition play falling 1-0 to the Illini. The Panthers are 2-11 all-time against the Big Ten Conference.    This week EIU faces Cincinnati from the American Athletic Conference.  The Panthers are 1-2 all-time against AAC members with all three contests against Memphis.
 
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: Eastern Illinois and Chicago State will be meeting for the seventh time on the pitch on Friday afternoon with the Panthers leading the all-time series 6-0.  EIU won the last contest between the two schools 3-1 during the 2019 campaign.  This will be EIU's first match against Cincinnati when the two schools square off on Sunday. 
 
NEXT UP: Eastern Illinois plays just one contest next week as the Panthers will host Central Michigan on Sunday, Sept. 12. 

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.