Eastern Illinois (1-4-2) vs. Lindenwood (3-3-2)
Thursday, September 28
4PM - Lakeside Field, Charleston, Ill.
Watch | Live Stats
Eastern Illinois (1-4-2) vs. SIUE (5-0-2)
Sunday, October 1
1PM - Lakeside Field, Charleston, Ill.
Watch | Live Stats
ON-TAP: The Eastern Illinois men's soccer team will lift the lid for Ohio Valley Conference play for the first time in history with a series of two home matches. On Thursday afternoon, EIU will take on Lindenwood in a doubleheader with the women's team. On Sunday, the Panthers will host the undefeated team of SIUE. Eastern Illinois will enter Thursday's match with a 1-4-2 record after losing its last game to Detroit Mercy, 2-1. Lindenwood is currently at 3-3-2 in the season with their last match being a 8-0 win over University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy in St. Louis, who is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, NAIA.
INAUGURAL SEASON OF OVC MEN'S SOCCER: In March of 2023, men's soccer was announced as the 19th-sponsored sport by the Ohio Valley Conference. There are currently four institutions fielding men's soccer teams: Eastern Illinois, Lindenwood, SIUE, and Southern Indiana. Chicago State, Houston Christian, Incarnate Word, and Liberty are affiliate members.
CONFERENCE FORMAT: Each team is scheduled to play ten games. EIU will play every school at least once and three schools twice. The teams that the Panthers will face twice are Lindenwood, SIUE, and Southern Indiana. At the end of conference play, the top six teams will make it to the inaugural OVC Men's Soccer Championship with first and second securing a spot in the semifinals directly. The championship will take place on the campus of SIUE.
KIMBERLING ON THE SCORESHEET: In the contest against Detroit Mercy, freshman forward
Kyle Kimberling found the back of the net for the first time wearing the EIU jersey. The goal also served as the first of his collegiate career. Kimberling is now the fifth player to score for Panthers in the season. Besides him,
Maxwell Allen,
Lesego Maloma,
Adrian Lechuga, and
Sam Eccles also scored at least once in 2023.
LOURENCO ASSISTS: Felipe Kerr Lourenco picked up his first assist of the season against Detroit Mercy. The senior midfielder was responsible for finding Kimberling with a long ball in behind the Titan's defense. Apart from Lourenco,
Sam Eccles,
Julian Smith, Willian Bruce, and
Casey Welage have assisted at least once in the season.
TOP SCORER: Sam Eccles added his second goal of the season in the match against Wright State to become the team leader in numbers of goals (2). Earlier in the year, the senior forward scored EIU's goal in the 1-1 home draw with IUPUI.
ECCLES MEETS WELAGE IN ASSISTS: Sam Eccles is sharing the lead of assists with
Casey Welage. The most recent assist from Eccles came in the match against Western Illinois, as he found Allen in the play that ended with EIU's goal in the contest. Welage and Eccles have two assists each in the season for the Panthers.
OFF TO A GOOD START: The 1-0 home win over Governors State marked the first time EIU has opened the year with a win since 2018. On that occasion, the Panthers defeated Cincinnati on the road, 2-0. The last home opener win came in 2014, when the Panthers beat St. Francis (IL) also 2-0.
CLEAN SHEET TO OPEN THE SEASON: In goal,
Chad Smith posted three saves to give EIU the first shutout of the season. Last time EIU opened the season with a shutout was also in 2018, against Cincinnati.
OVC PLAYER TO WATCH: Sam Eccles was named as EIU's player to watch in the OVC this season. The senior forward from Sheffield, England scored five goals and had one assist last year, which gave him a total of 11 points, the most points scored by an EIU player since 2014. Eccles started in 16 matches and logged 1,024 minutes for the Panthers in the 2022 season.
SERIES HISTORY: The conference opener against Lindenwood will be only the second meet between schools. In 2022, the Lions defeated the Panthers, 2-1. Against SIUE, it will be the 30th contest in history, as EIU looks to improve a 8-17-4 series disadvantage.
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: After Sunday's match against SIUE, the Panthers will take a trip to Texas to face Incarnate Word on Oct. 5th and Houston Christian on Oct. 8th.
