INDIANAPOLIS, IND. -- Eastern Illinois men's soccer took a 5-1 road loss to the IUPUI Jaguars on Friday evening. With the loss, the Panthers drop to 0-2-1 on the season.
The first half saw an early offensive explosion, as IUPUI scored their first goal just six minutes into the game. EIU quickly countered with
Sam Eccles netting his second goal in three games this season off of an assist from
Jude Spallinger to tie things up at 1-1, but the Jaguars would add two more goals in the period to take a 3-1 halftime lead. The Panthers made a valiant effort to mount a comeback in the second half, firing off seven shots and affording themselves four corner opportunities, but IUPUI would add two more goals in the period to secure the game.
Overall, the Panthers took a season-high 12 shots for the game and had a season-high seven corner kicks to IUPUI's six, but were unable to capitalize on their opportunities. Eccles led the team with three shots. Spallinger and
Nikola Salopek each had two shots, while
Chad Hamler,
Julian Smith, and
Lesego Maloma each had one shot.Â
Prince Okonny and
Casey Welage both came off the bench to register a shot on goal for EIU in the second half.
Up next, the Panthers will remain on the road to take on another foe from the Hoosier state in the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons. Kickoff is scheduled for 2 PM CT on Sunday, September 4.
