Eastern Illinois (6-4-2, 3-0 OVC) vs. Morehead State (3-9, 1-2 OVC)
Sunday, October 5
1 pm at Charleston, Ill. (Lakeside Field)
Live Stats  |  Watch on ESPN+

 
ON-TAP:  Eastern Illinois will host Morehead State this Sunday as the Panthers celebrate 30-years of NCAA Division I women's soccer on campus with a former player reunion weekend.   EIU enters the match at 3-0 in the OVC and 6-4-2 overall after going undefeated in the month of September (4-0-2).   Morehead State enters the weekend at 3-9 overall, 1-2 in the OVC after a pair of conference losses last week. 
 
NEXT UP: Following Sunday's match with Morehead State, the Panthers will remain at home on Thursday to host Southern Indiana before a road match next Sunday, Oct. 12 at Southeast Missouri.
 
TETTEH SETS RECORD, WINS AWARDS: Junior forward Alex Tetteh had a memorable week in the Panthers road wins at Western Illinois and UT Martin.  On Thursday she tied the OVC and EIU single match record for goals scored with four.  She became the third EIU player to accomplish the feat joining Tracie Strother (1996 vs Little Rock) and Beth Aussin (1996 vs Lewis).  Tetteh is the eighth OVC player to score four goals in a match, the last was SIUE's Kayla Delgado in 2013.   For her efforts Tetteh was named the Top Drawer Soccer National Player of the Week as well as the OVC Offensive Player of the Week.  She is tied for the OVC lead this season with six goals and moved into a tie for 16th on the EIU career goals list with teammate Abby Reinl and Diane Markus (1995-98).  It was the second hat trick or better performance of Tetteh's career after scoring three goals in a win over Illinois Springfield in 2024.

WELSH NAMED OVC DEFENDER OF THE WEEK:  Freshman Adison Welsh was the OVC Defender of the Week after helping the Panthers post back-to-back shutouts last week in road wins at Western Illinois and UT Martin.  Welsh was the second straight EIU player to win the OVC weekly award after Colleen Bauer earned OVC Defender of the Week after the Panthers OVC opening win over SIUE.  Welsh was the lone EIU defender to play all 180 minutes on the pitch and came forward to provide an assist on the match winning goal on Sunday at UT Martin.  She is currently third on the team in minutes played at 875 with three straight complete 90 minute efforts in OVC action.
 
SHUTOUT FOR KRATOCHVIL: Ella Kratochvil posted her fourth and fifth straight shutouts in road wins last week at Western Illinois and UT Martin.  The effort earned the junior OVC Goalkeeper of the Week honors.  Kratochvil now has six shutouts this season which tie her for fifth on the EIU single season shutout list.  For her career Kratochvil has moved up to solo possession of fifth place with 13 career shutouts.  This season she has a 0.82 goals against average with 52 saves.  Her goals against average is currently second in the OVC while her six shutouts are tied for the league lead and 13th in the NCAA.
 
REINL EIU CHARTS: Abby Reinl moved into the Panthers career record books in a tie for 10th on the career goals list with her tally in the OVC opener against SIUE.  Reinl is second on the EIU team this season with five goals which ranks the junior midfielder third in the OVC.  Her 16 career goals are tied with teammate Alex Tetteh and former Panther Diane Markus (1995-98). 
 
SPREADING THE POINTS AROUND: Alex Tetteh and Abby Reinl have seen their names at the top of the Eastern Illinois goal scoring list this season but the Panthers as a team have done a good job of spreading the points around.  Tetteh (6 goals) and Reinl (5 goals) are two of the five EIU players that have found the back of the net this season.  Ella Onstott, Ella Dwyer and Katiebeth May each have one goal.  Onstott is the Panthers leader in assists with three giving the senior five total points this season.  Camylle Graves also has multiple assists with two this year.  A total of ten players have an assist this season (eight players with one each) which is the highest number of EIU players with an assist since the 2018 season when 11 players had at least one assist.
 
OVC OPENERS: Eastern Illinois moved to 3-0 in the Ohio Valley Conference with wins on the road last week at Western Illinois and UT Martin.  It is the best start to an OVC season for the Panthers since the 2013 season when EIU opened the year 4-0 before finishing the conference slate at 6-4.  This marks just the fourth time in program history that EIU has opened an OVC season 3-0 or better.  The Panthers went undefeated in conference play (5-0 both years) in 1999 and 2000.
 
KRATOCHVIL RARE ASSIST: Goalkeeper Ella Kratochvil had a rare assist for a goalkeeper as her clearance out of the zone at Valparaiso took a big bounce with Abby Reinl finding the ball and finishing off the goal.   It was the first assist by an EIU goalkeeper in more than 25 years with the last by Jeanine Fredrick on Oct. 29, 1999, with an assist to Ida Hankansson's opening goal in a win over UT Martin. 
 
ONSTOTT WITH A QUICK GOAL:  Ella Onstott scored just 37 seconds into the match with Indiana State in what was one of the fastest goals scored in EIU program history.  Onstott scored on an assist from Alex Tetteh.  It was the second career goal for Onstott whose first career goal was in 2023 against Morehead State.
 
REINL MIDFIELDER WATCH LIST: Junior Abby Reinl was named to the Midfielder Preseason Watch List by the United Soccer Coaches Association. Reinl was the 2024 OVC Midfielder of the Year after leading the Panthers with eight goals scored which ranked second in the conference during the regular season. She had a stretch during conference play of scoring at least one goal in five consecutive matches. Reinl earned third team All-Region honors following the season. She was one of 48 players listed on the preseason midfielder watch list and the only player from the Ohio Valley Conference.
 
RETURNING ALL-OVC: Eastern Illinois returns two All-OVC players from last season as Abby Reinl and Alex Tetteh both earned All-OVC honors. Reinl was a first-team All-OVC selection last year earning OVC Midfielder of the Year honors.  She led the team with eight goals which ranked second in the conference for regular season scoring. Tetteh was a second-team All-OVC selection at forward. She finished the season with seven goals to rank second on the team including a hat trick early in the campaign becoming the ninth player in school history to record a hat trick. Defender Colleen Bauer also returns after earning OVC All-Newcomer team honors last season. Bauer started 19 matches as a freshman defender logging a team-high 1,614 minutes with one assist on the season
 
OVC PLAYER TO WATCH: In addition to the returning All-OVC performers from last season, junior goalkeeper Ella Kratochvil was named a Player of the Watch in the OVC for the upcoming season.  She started nine matches during the season after missing the early portion of the year with an injury sustained in exhibition play. She ended the season with a 0.89 goals against average with three shutouts in the net.
 
30 YEARS OF EIU WOMEN'S SOCCER: Eastern Illinois women's soccer will celebrate its 30th season as an intercollegiate sport during the 2025 season. The Panthers will host a 30-year reunion weekend surrounding EIU's Oct. 5 match against Morehead State. EIU's first collegiate contest was against Toledo with the Panthers first win coming over Iowa State.  Since that time EIU has made four NCAA Tournament appearances while producing seven Conference Player of the Year selections and 41 first-team All-Conference performers.

SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Illinois hosts Morehead State on Sunday with the programs meeting for the 32nd time on the pitch.  EIU holds a 15-10-6 all-time lead with the Eagles producing a 5-1 win in Morehead last season.  The schools played to three consecutive draws prior to that with EIU's last win in the series during the 2020 COVID season played in the Spring of 2021.   EIU picked up a 1-0 win over MSU in double overtime.

HEAD COACH: Dirk Bennett enters his third 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 his final year as an EIU assistant 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. He picked up his first head coaching career win with EIU's 3-1 home win over Illinois Springfield on Aug. 20, 2023. He holds a 15-21-12 career record, including 9-7-5 in the OVC making the OVC Tournament field in each of his two seasons as head coach. He is assisted by Deanna Hecht.