Eastern Illinois (2-5-5, 0-3-1 OVC) vs. UT Martin (2-7-3, 0-3-1 OVC)
Sunday, October 9
1 pm at Lakeside Field (Charleston, Ill.)
Live Stats | Watch on ESPN+
ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois picked up its first point in the Ohio Valley Conference race in its last match playing to a 0-0 draw at Morehead State. The Panthers moved to 2-5-5 on the season, 0-3-1 in the OVC. The Panthers will have four matches left in the regular season with two of those matches head-to-head against teams they are currently tied with in the OVC standings. The first of those is UT Martin which is Sunday's opponent. The Skyhawks are 2-7-3, 0-3-1 in the OVC. EIU will end the season against Southern Indiana which is also currently tied with both EIU and UTM with one point in the OVC race.
ANOTHER BERMEO CLEAN SHEET: Goalkeeper
Daniela Bermeo posted her fifth clean sheet of the season last week as the Panthers played to a 0-0 draw at Morehead State. For the season Bermeo now has a 0.75 goals against average which ranks fourth in the OVC. As a team, EIU is tied for the conference lead in fewest goals allowed with nine total for the season. Bermeo is tied for seventh on the EIU single season list for shutouts.
SENIOR SEND OFF: Eastern Illinois will honor the members of its senior class prior to start of Sunday match with UT Martin. Set to be honored
Faith Davies,
Michaela Danyo,
Kenzie Balcerak,
Nicoletta Anuci,
Megan Kenny and
Zenaya Barnes. In addition EIU has two fifth year players –
Daniela Bermeo and
Amanda DaSilva that both walked as part of their senior class recognition last season.
KORHORN JOINS SCORING PARTY: Cam Korhorn scored her first goal of the season in Thursday's 2-1 loss to Southeast Missouri. Korhorn became the fifth different EIU player to score this season. Last season Korhorn had one goal which proved to be the match winner against Belmont. Korhorn joined
Jenna Little,
Serra Pizano,
Zoe Paxton and
Karima Rangel as Panthers with goals scored this season.
POINTS RACE: Jenna Little continues to lead EIU's points race this season as the forward added an assist to her point total in last Thursday's match with Southeast Missouri. Little is EIU's leading goal scorer with three and now has seven points for the year.
Serra Pizano is second on the EIU squad with three points collecting one goal and one assist this season.
Amanda DaSilva is the Panthers assist leader with two.
SECOND BEST START IN SCHOOL HISTORY: Eastern Illinois got off to the second best start to a season in program history as the Panthers were unbeaten through their first five matches of the season. The best start to a year was the 1996 season when EIU opened 9-0 as they finished that season with a 16-4 record including a 4-1 record playing in the Missouri Valley Conference. Already this season EIU has set a school record for consecutive shutouts with four to open the season. EIU suffered its first loss of the 2022 season in a rain soaked 2-1 set-back to Northern Illinois. This was the best start to a season in terms of fewest losses since the 2001 season when EIU opened the year 7-1.
OVC WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS THIS YEAR: Eastern Illinois had multiple Ohio Valley Conference award winners to open the season with goalkeeper
Daniela Bermeo being named the OVC Goalkeeper of the Week for weeks one and two of the season. Bermeo did not allow a goal in the Panthers opening four matches. The Panthers solid defensive backline helped provide those shutouts with
Sarah Hagg named the OVC Defender of the Week following week one and
Zoe Paxton winning OVC Defender of the Week honors in week two.
LITTLE WITH A BRACE IN EIU WIN: Jenna Little scored both of Eastern Illinois goals in EIU's August 21, 2-0 win over Purdue Fort Wayne. Little had one goal during the 2021 season against Morehead State and had scored two goals during exhibition play. Last season EIU had two players
Nicoletta Anuci (against Illinois Springfield) and
Zenaya Barnes (against Murray State) score two goals in a match.
OVC PLAYER TO WATCH: Amanda DaSilva was named the Eastern Illinois player to watch in the OVC this season. A veteran player, DaSilva will slide to the Panthers back line this season after starting 16 of 17 contests last season. She was one of four field players to log more than 1,200 minutes on the pitch last season.
RETURNING ALL-OVC: Eastern Illinois returns two All-Ohio Valley Conference performers from last season in
Zenaya Barnes and
Sarah Hagg. Barnes was a second team All-OVC selection at forward. Hagg was a second team All-OVC selection at defender while also earning All-OVC Newcomer honors.
LIFT FOR LIFE: Eastern Illinois women's soccer once again took part in the Lift for Life event which raises money in the fight against Rare Diseases.
Kenzie Balcerak and
Jenna Little have spearheaded the women's soccer participation in this event which was originally done by the EIU football team. The annual fundraiser is done in conjunction with Uplifting Athletes took place on Aug. 19.
RULE CHANGE: The NCAA no longer will have overtime sessions during regular season play. Last season EIU had three overtime contests picking up two draws while losing a third game in the extra session. The Panthers have played three or more overtime matches in each of the last four seasons with six of those contests resulting in a win or loss for EIU.
SERIES HISTORY: This will be the 28th meeting between Eastern Illinois and UT Martin on the pitch. EIU holds a 13-11-3 all-time lead in the series. UT Martin has won two straight over EIU including a 4-1 win over the Panthers last season.
NEXT UP: Eastern Illinois hosts UT Martin on Sunday as the Panthers hit the stretch run of the OVC schedule. EIU has four matches remaining during the regular season with road contests at Little Rock (Oct. 16) and Southern Indiana (Oct. 23) with a home date with Lindenwood sandwiched in between on Oct. 20.
HEAD COACH: Jake Plant enters his fifth 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 fifth season with a record of 16-36-13 with an 10-20-8 record in OVC matches having made the OVC Tournament in three of four seasons. He is a native of Birmingham, England. He is assisted by
Dirk Bennett.
