Southern Indiana (1-9-3) vs. Eastern Illinois (2-8-3)
Thursday, October 19
3PM - Strassweg Field, Evansville, Ind.
Watch | Live Stats
Lindenwood (5-4-5) vs. Eastern Illinois (2-8-3)
Sunday, October 22
1PM - Hunter Stadium, St. Charles, Mo.
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ON-TAP: The Eastern Illinois men's soccer team is once again on the road for a pair of conference matches that will play a big role in determining whether or not the Panthers can secure a spot in the OVC tournament taking place in Edwardsville, Ill. early next month. As of now, the Panthers hold the seventh place with four points and a 1-4-1 conference record. The upcoming matches will be against eight place Southern Indiana and fourth place Lindenwood, respectively. With four games left to play, EIU enters the final stretch of the competition following a home draw against Chicago State, 0-0.
SECOND SHUTOUT FOR SMITH: The scoreless draw against Chicago State gave goalkeeper
Chad Smith his second shutout of the season. One of the most experienced players on the squad, Smith ended the match with three saves to help EIU reach the second clean sheet in 2023.
TOP SCORER: Sam Eccles' winning goal over Lindenwood during the OVC opener served as his third of the year. A senior forward from England, Eccles had his first two goals in the matches against IUPUI and Wright State earlier in the season.
WELAGE AGAIN: Casey Welage has been a pillar player for EIU's offense. Other than scoring his first goal of the season over UIW from a freekick, the sophomore midfielder added another assist in the contest against HCU, and now leads the team with four. Welage is followed by
Felipe Kerr Lourenco and
Sam Eccles, with two assists apiece. Apart from them,
Julian Smith and
William Bruce have assisted at once each in the season.
LOURENCO ON THE SCORESHEET: Senior midfielder
Felipe Kerr Lourenco scored his first goal of the season from a penalty kick against UIW. Lourenco became the eighth player to score for the Panthers in the season. Apart from him,
Casey Welage,
Kyle Kimberling,
Ashur Eshw,
Maxwell Allen,
Lesego Maloma,
Adrian Lechuga, and
Sam Eccles also scored at least once in 2023.
OVC OPENER WIN: The 2-1 win over Lindenwood marked the first time EIU opened conference play with a win since 2021. At the time, the Panthers participated in the The Summit League, and defeated St. Thomas, 1-0.
CLEAN SHEET TO OPEN THE SEASON: Chad Smith posted three saves against Governors State to give EIU the first shutout of the season. Last time EIU opened the season with a shutout was also in 2018, against Cincinnati.
SERIES HISTORY: EIU holds a 8-2 record advantage over Southern Indiana, as teams will meet for the 11th time in history with the last contest being a 3-2 loss in 2022. Against Lindenwood, this will be the third meet between schools. Earlier in the season, the Panthers came back to beat the Lions at home 2-1 and keep the series at 1-1.
HEAD COACH: Josh Oakley enters his second season as the head coach of the Eastern Illinois men's soccer team. Oakley was hired as the 11th head coach in the history of the program. A native of Mattoon, Ill., Oakley previously served as an assistant coach at EIU from 2000-02 and returned to Charleston after a successful stint at Lansing Common FC in the Midwest Premier League. He is assisted by
Chris DeVito
NEXT UP: EIU returns home to close conference play hosting Southern Indiana on Thursday, Oct. 26th., and SIUE on Sunday, Oct. 29th.
