Lindenwood (3-11-1) vs. Eastern Illinois (2-8-4)
Thursday, October 19
7PM - Hunter Stadium, St. Charles, Mo.
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Eastern Illinois (2-8-4) vs. Southern Indiana (4-6-6)
Sunday, October 22
1PM - Lakeside Field.
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ON-TAP: The Eastern Illinois women's soccer team (2-8-4, 1-4-2 OVC) is hitting the road for the last time in the 2023 regular season. The Panthers will be taking on the Lions of Lindenwood (3-11-1, 1-6 OVC) on Thursday evening, before hosting Southern Indiana (4-6-6, 3-1-3 OVC) on Sunday afternoon for the final group stage match of conference play. The results of these two upcoming matches will determine if the Panthers will make the OVC tournament, which will be held on the campus site of the higher seeds at the end of the month. EIU enters the week ranked eighth with five points in the OVC standings following a home loss to Little Rock. The top eight teams in the OVC standings qualify for the conference tournament.
GRIEVE & GERMANO: Junior forward
Carys Grieve and sophomore midfielder
Kate Germano have joined the EIU scoring party in the contest against Little Rock. Grieve gave EIU the 1-0 lead in that contest by placing the ball in the top left corner off a free kick. In the second half, Germano converted a penalty kick to score EIU's second goal of the match, but the Panthers could not avoid the loss, ending the afternoon defeated, 4-2.
KRATOCHVIL: After posting a game high of eleven saves in net against UT Martin,
Ella Kratochvill had her second shutout of the season against Western Illinois. The freshman goalkeeper posted her first shutout in the road win over SEMO earlier in the season.
REINL LEADS PANTHERS OFFENSE: Abby Reinl has taken the lead in goals and assists for the Panthers. The goal scored in the contest against Tennessee Tech has given the freshman forward the leading position, with three. Reinl's vital role in the offensive half of the field is not limited to just goals, as the forward is also leading the team in assists, also with three.
THE SCORING PARTY: EIU's offense has been showing its group power, as nine different players have scored for Panthers in the 2023 season. The two newest players added to the scoring list are
Carys Grieve and
Kate Germano. They are now sharing the scoresheet with
Ella Onstott,
Abby Reinl,
Alex Tetteh,
Cami Lummus,
Katiebeth May,
Serra Pizano, and
Zenaya Barnes.
CLEAN SHEET: The scoreless draw on the road against Purdue Fort Wayne gave the Panthers the first clean sheet of the season. Freshman goalkeeper
Ashlyn Hoover logged two saves to secure the first shutout of her college career. Hoover has a total of 17 saves in the season with a .895 save rate.
SERIES HISTORY: This is only the second time that EIU faces both Lindenwood and Southern Indiana. In 2022, the Panthers and the Lions played to a scoreless draw. Against Southern Indiana last season, EIU was defeated, 2-0.
HEAD COACH: Dirk Bennett enters his first season as the head coach of the Eastern Illinois women's soccer team. A two-time EIU graduate, Bennett previously served as the Panthers assistant women's soccer coach since July of 2019. In February of 2023, he became the seventh head coach in program history. In 2022, Bennett helped coach the team to a 0.81 goals against average, which is the third best single season mark in school history. EIU's 3-1 home win over Illinois Springfield this season marked Bennett's career win number 1. He is assisted by
Deanna Hecht and
Kayla Baird.
NEXT UP: The Panthers will wait on results of the last round of group stage conference games for a spot in the OVC tournament. The tournament official start date is set for Friday, Oct 27th. If qualified, EIU's opponent is yet to be determined.
