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Eastern Illinois vs. Green Bay
Sep. 21 at 2 pm
Charleston, Ill. (Lakeside Field)
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Panthers Return Home For Matchup With Green Bay
Eastern Illinois Men's Soccer returns home after a 2-game road stretch to wrap up non-conference play against the Green Bay Phoenix.  EIU enters the match with a record of 0-5 after Wednesday's road loss at Missouri State.  Green Bay comes to town with a record of 1-4-1 following a 3-1 loss on the road to Wright State on Saturday.  Kickoff is set for 2 pm, moved up from the initial start time of 1 pm due to anticipated rain.

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 16 saves on the season, including a season-high six saves recorded against Missouri State.

Series History
Tuesday will mark the tenth all-time meeting between Eastern Illinois and Green Bay.  EIU is 2-4-3 all time against the Phoenix, with the last meeting ending in a 2-1 Phoenix victory in Green Bay on November 5, 2019.

Up Next
EIU will open up conference play against Summit League opponent St. Thomas at Lakeside Field on Saturday, September 25.  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.