Incarnate Word vs. Eastern Illinois
Thursday, October 10
4pm – Charleston, Ill. (Lakeside Field)
Watch | Live Stats
Houston Christian vs. Eastern Illinois
Sunday, October 10
3pm – Charleston, Ill. (Lakeside Field)
Watch | Live Stats
ON-TAP: The Eastern Illinois men's soccer team (1-7-1, OVC 0-3) is set to host fellow OVC opponent Incarnate Word (3-5-1, OVC 1-2) on Thursday, Oct. 10 at Lakeside Field. This marks the first game in over a month that the Panthers have played a home match. EIU comes off of a six-game road stretch as they look to grab their second home win in 2024. Incarnate Word enters Thursday's matchup coming off a 2-1 victory over Western Illinois.
NEXT UP: Following Thursday night's contest, Eastern Illinois will stay at Lakeside Field as they take on Houston Christian (4-5-2, OVC 2-1) on Sunday, Oct. 13. This contest will be the second of a double header hosted at Lakeside field, as kickoff is set for 2:30pm following the EIU women's soccer team who plays Western Illinois at noon.
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. Junior Casey Welage leads Eastern Illinois in shots attempted with 13.
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: Incarnate Word enters Thursdays matchup with a 2-0 series lead over the Panthers, with the most recent victory for the Cardinals coming in the OVC semifinal game in 2023. Looking ahead to Sunday, Houston Christian also leads the all-time series 2-0 over EIU, claiming their most recent victory in Houston during October of last season.
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).
