Eastern Illinois (1-1-1) vs. Bellarmine (0-1-3)
Saturday, September 9
1PM - Lakeside Field (Charleston, Ill.)
Watch on ESPN+ | Live Stats
Eastern Illinois (1-1-1) vs. Wright State (0-1-2)
Tuesday, September 12
4PM - Lakeside Field (Charleston, Ill.)
Watch on ESPN+ | Live Stats
ON-TAP: Eastern Illinois men's soccer prepares to face Bellarmine on Saturday. The Panthers enter the game with a 1-1-1 overall record followed by a 1-1 home draw against IUPUI last Tuesday. Bellarmine is currently at 0-1-3 as the Knights also drew their last contest against Northern Kentucky, 0-0.
ECCLES AND LECHUGA ON THE SCORESHEET: Sam Eccles scored his first goal of the season in the contest against IUPUI. The senior forward led the team in number of goals last season with a total of five. Earlier this week, sophomore
Adrian Lechuga scored EIU's goal against Bradley. The goal served as the first of his college career. Other than Eccles and Lechuga,
Lesego Maloma is the other player to score for EIU this season.
WELAGE ASSISTS: Casey Welage became the fourth player to add an assist for the Panthers in the match against IUPUI. He is now sharing the lead of assists with Willian Bruce,
Julian Smith, and
Sam Eccles as all four players have assisted once this season.
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.
SERIES HISTORY: Saturday's match will be only the second time in history that Eastern Illinois and Bellarmine meet. In 2021, the Knights defeated the Panthers, 2-1.
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 will close its series of five home games hosting Wright State on Tuesday, Sept. 12th. Kickoff scheduled for 4pm.
