SEMO (4-2-2) vs. Eastern Illinois (1-5-2)
Sunday, September 24
1PM - Houck Field, Cape Girardeau, Mo.
Watch | Live Stats
ON-TAP: EIU women's soccer has a quick turnaround ahead, as the Panthers travel to face Southeast Missouri in the first OVC road match of the season. EIU is at a (1-5-2, 0-1 OVC) after dropping conference opener to SIUE while the Redhawks hold a (4-2-2, 0-0-1 OVC) followed by a scoreless draw with Western Illinois in their last contest.
BARNES AGAIN: Zenaya Barnes scored her second goal of the season against SIUE. The fifth year student is now sharing the lead in scoring with freshman
Abby Reinl, as both players have scored twice in the season.
GRIEVE ASSISTS: Carys Grieve picks up her first assist during EIU's conference opener. A junior midfielder, Grieve joins
Abby Reinl,
Ella Onstott,
Katiebeth May, and
Kylie Mahoney in the list of players who assisted at least once in the season.
KRATOCHVIL IN NET: Freshman goalkeeper
Ella Kratochvil had a game high of ten saves in the contest against SIUE. Kratochvil is now totaling 17 saves in the season with a .773 save rate.
REINL MEETS ONSTOTT: Abby Reinl logged her second assist of the season in the match with Chicago State. Reinl is now sharing the lead of assists with
Ella Onstott with two assists apiece.
CLEAN SHEET: The scoreless road draw 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.
SEASON SCORERS: Other than Barnes and Reinl,
Serra Pizano,
Alex Tetteh,
Katiebeth May have scored at least once this season.
OVC WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS: Abby Reinl was named the OVC Offensive Player of the Week for week one. Reinl was sharp to command EIU's offensive action in both season inaugural matches. She scored EIU's goal against Valpo on Thursday. On Sunday, Reinl was once again exceptional to come out of the bench and assist EIU's second goal against UIS and score EIU's third goal in the 3-1 home win over UIS. The two goals were the first of Reinl's career as she has been a member of EIU's 2023 recruiting class. The last EIU player to win OVC Offensive player of the Week was
Zenaya Barnes during the 2021 season.
SERIES HISTORY: EIU holds a 11-13-3 disadvantage against SEMO, as teams will meet for the 28th time on Sunday. In 2022, the Redhawks defeated the Panthers, 2-1.
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 return home to host Morehead State in a double header with the men's team on Thursday, Sept. 28th. Women's kickoff scheduled for 1 p.m. and men's kickoff scheduled for 4 p.m.
