Eastern Illinois men's soccer will move to the Ohio Valley Conference for competition this year as part of the conference's inaugural year of sponsorship of men's soccer as a championship sport.
The league announced its conference slate on Monday (June 19) with EIU head coach
Josh Oakley also releasing the Panthers full schedule for the fall.
EIU will play three exhibition matches at Lakeside Field as part of a schedule that includes 12 home contests. After three home exhibition matches, EIU plays its first four regular season matches at home opening on Sept. 3 against Bradley followed by IUPUI (Sept. 5), Bellarmine (Sept. 9) and Wright State (Sept. 12).
The remaining non-conference matches are on the road at Western Illinois (which will move to the OVC in men's soccer in 2024) and at Detroit Mercy.
OVC play opens for EIU on Sept. 28 with the Panthers hosting Lindenwood in their inaugural conference match. EIU will also host SIUE (Oct. 1), Liberty (Oct. 12), Chicago State (Oct. 15) and Southern Indiana (Oct. 26) in OVC home matches.
The conference road slate involves matches at Incarnate Word, Houston Christian, Southern Indiana, Lindenwood and SIUE.
The OVC Tournament is set for Nov. 5 for opening round matches. The 2023 OVC inaugural season will consist of traditional OVC members EIU, Lindenwood, SIUE and Southern Indiana coupled with affiliate members Chicago State, Houston Christian, Incarnate Word and Liberty.
2023 EIU Men's Soccer Schedule
Aug. 12 – Parkland College (exhib)
Aug. 18 – Bowling Green (exhib)
Aug. 21 – Illinois Springfield (exhib)
Sept. 3 – Bradley
Sept. 5 – IUPUI
Sept. 9 – Bellarmine
Sept. 12 – Wright State
Sept. 16 – at Western Illinois
Sept. 19 – at Detroit Mercy
Sept. 28 - * Lindenwood
Oct. 1 - * SIUE
Oct. 5 – * at Incarnate Word
Oct. 8 – * at Houston Christian
Oct. 12 - * Liberty
Oct. 15 - * Chicago State
Oct. 19 - * at Southern Indiana
Oct. 22 - * at Lindenwood
Oct. 26 - * Southern Indiana
Oct. 29 - * at SIUE
Nov. 5 – OVC Tournament Opening Round
* OVC Match
