Eastern Illinois vs. Liberty
Thursday, October 17
6pm – Lynchburg, Va. (Osborne Field)
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Eastern Illinois vs. Western Illinois
Sunday, October 20
2:30pm – Macomb, Ill. (John Mackenzie Alumni Field)
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ON-TAP: The Eastern Illinois men's soccer team (1-9-1, OVC 0-5) is set to travel to Lynchburg, Virginia on Thursday evening to take on the Liberty Flames (5-5-1, OVC 3-2) at 6pm at Osborn Field. The Panthers come off a two-game home stretch, falling both games to Incarnate Word and Houston Christian. Liberty enters Thursday's contest after a 1-3 loss to SIUE on Sunday Oct. 13.
NEXT UP: Following Thursday night's contest, Eastern Illinois will stay on the road as they travel back to the Midwest to take on in-state rival Western Ilinois (6-7-1, OVC 1-4) on Sunday afternoon. Kickoff is set for 2:30pm at John Mackenzie Alumni Field.
OFFENSIVE PRODUCTION: Graduate Student Sam Eccles carried over his offensive production from the 2023 season, recording two assists in the opening victory versus the University of Chicago. Eccles currently leads the Panthers offensive efforts, sitting at the top of the list in goals, assists, and points for the 2024 season. Eccles currently has seven points and three assists, while sitting tied with freshman Jackson Liley as EIU's top goal scorers with two apiece. Liley also leads Eastern Illinois in shots attempted with 15. Kyle Kimberling, Jared Cornejo, Casey Welage, and Kyle Ward have all recorded a goal for the Panthers this season as well.
OVC PLAYER TO WATCH: Eccles was also named as EIU's Ohio Valley Conference preseason player to watch after a strong 2023 campaign. He looks to build off of his numbers from a season ago as he logged 1381 total minutes and started all 18 games he appeared in.
GOAL PRODUCTION RETURNING: In addition, Eastern Illinois returns the next two points leaders from the 2023 season, Casey Welage and Felipe Kerr Lourenco. Welage finished the season with six points as Kerr Lourenco was close behind with five. Sophomore Kyle Kimberling is set to return as well as he finished the season as the Panthers second leading goal scorer.
BATTLE IN THE NET: In 2023, Eastern Illinois had three goalkeepers who shared time throughout the season. Senior Chad Smith held the box for a majority of the seasons matches as he started in 11 of the 12 games that he appeared in. In addition, EIU returns two other goalkeepers from last season, Joseph Whelan and Kyce Toutanji. Joseph and Toutanju each earned starts in all games that they appeared in. Toutanji earned the most recent start for the Panthers (Sep 4) as he was able to notch a career high 10 saves while only allowing one goal. Additionally, the Panthers added one more body in goal in redshirt freshman Lucas Ortiz.
SERIES HISTORY: Liberty enters Thursday's matchup with a 1-0-1 series lead over EIU, with the last matchup between these two teams came in the OVC tournament last year in Edwardsville, Ill. Eastern Illinois secured their extra time win, advancing to the semifinal round after a 3-1 victory in penalty kicks. Looking ahead to Sunday's match, Western Illinois leads the all-time series over the Panthers 8-4-3, as the Leathernecks came away with win in Macomb in their most recent matchup a season ago.
HEAD COACH: Josh Oakley enters his third season as the head coach of the EIU men's soccer program. Oakley spent two years on the Eastern Illinois staff as an assistant coach from 2000-02. He was hired as 11th head coach in EIU men's soccer program history in June of 2022 and guided EIU to an OVC Tournament semifinal appearance with a first-round win over Liberty. Prior to EIU, Oakley was the Head coach of Lansing Common FC in the Midwest Premier League. During his time in the MWPL, Lansing Common FC produced three MWPL Golden Boot Award winners (given to the league's top goal scorer).
