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Eastern Illinois (1-2-1) at #18 Dayton (4-0-0)
Sept. 13 at 6 PM
Dayton, Ohio (Baujan Field)
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Panthers Set For Big Road Matchup
Eastern Illinois men's soccer looks for their second straight win on the road as they head to Ohio for a matchup with the 18th-ranked Dayton Flyers on Tuesday, September 13.  The Panthers currently stand at 1-2-1 on the season following last Sunday's 1-0 road win over the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons.  The Flyers come into Tuesday's match with a perfect mark of 4-0-0, their most recent contest being a 4-1 win at Kansas City on Saturday.  Kickoff is set for 6 PM CT.

EIU Finding The Back of the Net
Sam Eccles has been the Panthers' offensive leader for the early part of the season.  The Hofstra transfer leads the team with seven shots, four shots on goal, and has scored two goals in the first four games of the season.  He scored a goal off of a penalty kick in the 82nd minute of EIU's opener at Green Bay for the Panthers' first goal of the regular season, and netted his second goal in the 8th minute against IUPUI.  His 1.25 points per game ranks third in the Summit League.  Delphy Sabu found the back of the net in the 72nd minute to help secure a tie against Xavier, while Julian Smith netted what proved to be the game-winning goal in the 15th minute at Purdue Fort Wayne off of a pass from Eccles.  EIU is one of three teams in the Summit League that has yet to be shut out this season.

Smith Anchors The Goal
Chad Smith has played a team-high 355 minutes at goalkeeper this season for EIU.  He played all 90 minutes in EIU's win at Purdue Fort Wayne, earning his first shutout of the season en route to a Panther win.  His four first half saves against Xavier single-handedly kept the Panthers in the game and his save in the second half preserved the eventual tie.  Smith's four saves per game rank fifth in the Summit League and his 16 saves also rank fifth in the conference.  His 0.667 save percentage ranks third in the conference.

Spallinger, Okonny Make Early Impact
Freshman Forward Jude Spallinger scored a goal in EIU's home exhibition win over Parkland CC.  Okonny made the assist on the goal and also scored a goal of his own in the win.  Spallinger also has one assist on the season. 

Smith, Hamler Named Players To Watch
Chad Hamler and Julian Smith have been named Summit League Preseason Players to Watch.  Hamler comes into this season having made 35 starts at Midfielder for the Panthers.  He scored a game-winning goal a season ago in the Panthers' win at IUPUI and recorded two goals in EIU's exhibition win over Parkland Community College.  Hamler leads all returing Panthers with 14 shots recorded a season ago.  Smith appeared in all 15 games for EIU a season ago, including six starts.  He scored a game-winning goal in EIU's home win over St. Thomas.

Series History
Tuesday will mark the seventh all-time meeting between the Panthers and the Flyers.  Dayton leads the all-time series 4-2-0.  The Flyers won the last meeting 4-1 in Dayton on September 9, 2012.

Next Up
The Panthers will head down to Texas to take on the Huskies of Houston Baptist on Saturday, September 17.  Kickoff is scheduled for 7 PM CT.

The Oakley Era Begins
This season is the first under new head coach Josh Oakley, who was hired as the 11th head coach in the history of the program on June 29.  A native of Mattoon, Ill., Oakley previously served as an assistant coach at EIU from 2000-02, and returns to Charleston after a successful stint at Lansing Common FC in the Midwest Premier League.  Oakley also has previous collegiate coaching experience with stops at Spring Arbor University, Alma College, and Asbury College.