ST. CHARLES, MO. -- Eastern Illinois men's soccer managed to find the back of the net again, but still came up short on the road against the Lindenwood Lions. With the loss, the Panthers drop to 1-7-1 overall and 0-3-0 in Summit League conference play.
Lindenwood struck first, as Branko Buljan scored in the 12th minute to give the Lions an early 1-0 advantage. The Panthers afforded themselves opportunities to answer, outshooting Lindenwood 9-3 in the first period, but they were hampered by three first-half offsides calls.Â
Lesego Maloma was the one to ultimately answer the bell, scoring his first goal of the season off of an assist from
Prince Okonny in the 40th minute to tie things up 1-1 at halftime.
In the second half, Lindenwood retook the lead when Cole Hutson scored in the 53rd minute to put the Lions up 2-1. The Panthers played aggressively in their attempt to make a comeback, firing off an additional 12 shots in the period, but were unable to capitalize. EIU's last chance came up short when a corner kick in the final minute failed to produce a goal.
Overall, the Panthers outshot the Lions 21-10 in shots and 8-4 in shots on goal, but five offsides calls stymied their offensive attack.Â
Sam Eccles was again the focal point of the offense, recording seven shots, five of which came in the second half.Â
Nikola Salopek recorded four shots, all of which were on target.Â
Jude Spallinger and
Chad Hamler each recorded three shots.
Up next, the Panthers will return home to host the Western Illinois Leathernecks on Saturday, October 8. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 AM CT.
