Eastern Illinois (3-4-2) vs. SIUE (1-7-1)
Sunday, September 21
1 pm at Charleston, Ill. (Lakeside Field)
Live Stats  |  Watch on ESPN+
 
ON-TAP:  Eastern Illinois ended non-conference play with a 0-0 draw on the road at Illinois State.  The Panthers now head into Ohio Valley Conference play at 3-4-2 on the year.   SIUE enters the OVC portion of the schedule at 1-7-1.   The Cougars have lost seven straight after going 1-0-1 during the opening weekend. 
 
NEXT UP: After hosting SIUE to open OVC play, EIU will head back on the road as the Panthers play two conference matches next week at Western Illinois (Thursday) and UT Martin (Sunday).
 
OVC OPENERS: Eastern Illinois will be looking to snap a three-match losing streak in OVC openers when the Panthers host SIUE on Sunday afternoon.  EIU is 0-4-2 in their last six conference openers with the last OVC opening win coming in 2018 with a 1-0 road win at Morehead State.   The last time EIU opened an OVC season at home with a win was 2011 with a 2-0 win over Tennessee Tech. 
 
OVC PREDICTIONS: With Ohio Valley Conference action set to get underway, Eastern Illinois was picked to finish fifth in the preseason poll while SIUE was tabbed to finish seventh.   Tennessee Tech was the preseason favorite with 14 of 20 first place votes.  Lindenwood was picked second followed by Little Rock in third.   Entering OVC play three teams have posted three non-conference wins to stand tied for most wins entering OVC play.  Lindenwood, Eastern Illinois and Southern Indiana all have posted three non-conference wins.
 
SHUTOUT FOR KRATOCHVIL: Ella Kratochvil posted her second straight shutout in the Panthers last match at Illinois State, a 0-0 draw.  It was the third shutout this year for the junior goalkeeper with clean sheets also against Purdue Fort Wayne and IU Indy.  It was the ninth career shutout which ranks her in seventh place on the EIU career shutouts list.  This season Kratochvil has a 1.13 goals against average which ranks third in the Ohio Valley Conference.  She has made 38 saves.    

BAUER ANCHORS DEFENSE: Colleen Bauer continues to anchor the Panthers defense as the sophomore defender logged all 90 minutes on the pitch in the 0-0 draw with Illinois State.  This season she leads all players with 782 minutes played on the pitch.   She is joined by Kate Germano (692) and Adison Welsh (605) as the only three field players with more than 600 minutes logged this year.    

DWYER FIRST GOAL:  Sophomore Ella Dwyer scored late in the opening half at Purdue Fort Wayne in what stood up to be the match winner for the Panthers during their second road win this season.   It was the first career goal for Dwyer who also has an assist this season coming in the EIU road win at Valparaiso.
 
REINL SCORING STREAK: Abby Reinl found the net in the final minute of regulation for an insurance goal in the win at Purdue Fort Wayne.   It was the fourth goal of the season for Reinl and the 15th goal of her career as she now needs just one goal to crack the EIU career top ten.  Reinl was named the OVC Player of the Week last week for her three goal performance in matches at Valparaiso and at Northern Illinois.
 
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.
 
SPREADING THE POINTS AROUND: Eastern Illinois had three different players score goals over the two matches with Indiana State and Purdue Fort Wayne.  On the season EIU has had four different goal scorers this year with six different players collecting at least one assist.   Abby Reinl is the team leader with four goals which ranks the junior first in the OVC.   Alex Tetteh, Ella Dwyer and Ella Onstott all have scored and collected an assist for the Panthers this fall.
 
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. 
 
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.
 
RETURNING STARTERS:  Eastern Illinois returns seven field players from last season's roster that started at least half of the Panthers matches last season with six of those seven starting 17 or more contests. Four returning players – Colleen Bauer, Kate Germano, Casey Kittridge and Ella Onstott - started all 19 matches in 2025 for EIU.
 
POINTS PRODUCERS FROM 2024: EIU returns its top goal scorers from last season in juniors Abby Reinl and Alex Tetteh. The Panthers also return Kate Germano and Kya Trejo who found the back of the net during the 2024 season. Germano was the Panthers leader last season with four assists while Trejo had two assists as the second leading returner in that category.

NEW FACES: While Eastern Illinois does return a veteran roster from last season, the Panthers did bolster their line with the addition of eleven new faces. Joining the Panthers this fall are Sadie Black, Cora Erickson, Camylle Graves, Hannah Hickman, Sadie Mueller, Haylee Rios, Rylee Schloss, Madi Watt, Addison Welsh and Reese Woelfel. The Panthers had one additional mid-year transfer in Mya French who joined the team last January.

SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Illinois opens Ohio Valley Conference play against in-state foe SIUE as the two schools will be meeting for the 20th time.   SIUE has dominated the series winning seven straight and holding a 16-2-1 all-time series lead.  EIU's last win in the series was a 1-0 win at SIUE in 2018.  

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 12-21-12 career record, including 6-7-5 in the OVC making the OVC Tournament field in each of his two seasons as head coach. He is assisted by Deanna Hecht.