PEORIA, ILL -- Eastern Illinois men's soccer played the Bradley Braves to a 1-1 draw, marking their second consecutive tie and third overall on the season. With the result, the Panthers go to 1-7-3 overall on the season.
The Panthers got offensive penetration early, affording themselves three corner opportunities in the first ten minutes. The Panthers had multiple chances in the box on one occasion in the 14th minute, but could not convert. Later in the period, both teams came close on shots that only just barely missed the mark as the first half ended in a scoreless tie. In the 49th minute,
Sam Eccles got the best look of the night for EIU up to that point, but his shot just barely sailed over the crossbar. Bradley then got two good looks in quick succession, but
Chad Smith once again came up clutch with back-to-back saves to keep the Braves off the scoreboard. The Panthers kept up their offensive pressure, as a
Julian Smith shot in the 61st minute just went off the corner post of the goal. Â
EIU finally broke through in the 66th minute as Eccles took a pass on the fly from
Maxwell Allen and beat the Bradley defense for his fifth goal of the season. Bradley responded just three minutes later with a goal from Gonzalo Gil in the 69th minute to tie it back up at 1-1. Both teams got more solid looks in the final 21 minutes, but were unable to take advantage as Bradley's last gasp fell into the waiting arms of
Chad Smith.
It was an offensive display from both sides, as the Panthers and Braves each recorded 13 shots. Bradley got off seven shots on target to EIU's three, but
Chad Smith's six saves managed to preserve the draw for the Panthers. Eccles once again led EIU's offensive attack, recording six shots, including all three of EIU's shots on goal. With his goal, Eccles becomes the first EIU Panther with five goals in a season since Jake Brillhart in 2014.Â
Chad Hamler recorded three shots for the Panthers, while
Delphy Sabu recorded two.Â
Up next, the Panthers will return to Summit League conference play as they head to Oklahoma to take on the Oral Roberts Golden Eagles on Saturday, October 15. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 PM CT.
