EDWARDSVILLE, Ill. - The Eastern Illinois women's soccer 2023 season came to an end on Friday, as the Panthers lost the opening round of the OVC tournament to Southeast Missouri, 1-0.
In an uneventful initial half, Panthers and Redhawks opted to keep their shape defensively to avoid getting scored on. As a result, both teams were unable to create good attacking opportunities. Although SEMO had a slightly higher possession of the ball, they did not offer much danger to the Panther's defense. The best chance of the half for the Redhawks came off a header in the 27th minute that was deflected and turned into a corner. The Panthers showed once again its strength in the defensive third of the field, but could not keep the ball in the attacking third, ending the half with no shots. Goalkeeper
Ella Kratochvil had two saves in net, as teams were scoreless at halftime.
The Panthers started the second half firing early with
Cami Lummus, as the senior midfielder logged the first EIU shot of the night in the 47th minute. The Panthers took the advantage of the momentum to keep the actions in the attacking third more often. About ten minutes later, it was
Carys Grieve who tried to score off a free kick, but the Redhawks goalkeeper made a good save to avoid EIU's goal. Junior defender
Avery Richardson created the best opportunity of the match in the 74th minute. Richardson fired a long distance shot that hit the crossbar twice, before
Cam Korhorn ended the play with an off-target shot in the rebound. Despite the fact that EIU was the dominant team in the second half, the Panthers could not transport its superiority to the scoreboard, and at the end of regular time, the match was still scoreless.
Overtime: Emily Baker scored in the 93rd minute to give SEMO the lead until the final whistle.
EIU finished the year at 4-9-4.
