Eastern Illinois (2-4) vs. Indiana State (2-3-1)
Thursday, September 4
2 pm at Charleston, Ill. (Lakeside Field)
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Eastern Illinois at Purdue Fort Wayne (0-3-1)
Sunday, September 7
3 pm at Fort Wayne, Ind. (Hefner Soccer Complex)
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ON-TAP:  Eastern Illinois picked up its first non-conference road win since Sept. 1, 2022, with last Thursday's 2-1 win at Valparaiso.   On Sunday, EIU was unable to make it two straight road wins as Northern Illinois scored two late goals to post a 2-1 win over EIU.  The Panthers enter the week at 2-4 overall with three non-conference matches remaining this fall.   On Thursday EIU welcomes regional rival Indiana State with the Sycamores coming off a 3-0 win over Western Illinois to stand at 2-3-1 on the season.   Sunday EIU will play at Purdue Fort Wayne which enters the week at 0-3-1 overall with the Mastodons hosting Indiana Tech on Wednesday before the Panthers come to town.
 
NEXT UP: Following a split trip this weekend hosting Indiana State on Thursday and traveling to Purdue Fort Wayne on Sunday, EIU will wrap up non-conference play on the road on Thursday, Sept. 11 at Illinois State.   
 
REINL SCORING STREAK: Abby Reinl found a goal scoring hot streak last week as the junior midfielder found the net three times over two matches on the road.  Reinl scored a pair of second half goals at Valparaiso including the match winner in the final 12 minutes of action.   She added a first half goal on Sunday at Northern Illinois giving her 14 career goals.  Reinl needs two more goals to crack the EIU career top ten for goal scoring.  
 
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. 
 
PANTHERS POINTS LEADERS: Abby Reinl moved herself into the points lead for EIU for the early portion of the season with six total points following three goals in road matches last week.  Reinl has led the Panthers in total points each of the last two seasons.   Alex Tetteh has the other goal this season for EIU to stand second on the team with two points.   Four players are all tied for third on the team in scoring with one assist each with Ella Dwyer, Kate Germano, Ella Kratochvil and Ella Onstott.
 
SHUTOUT FOR KRATOCHVIL: Ella Kratochvil turned away five shots on goal to post a clean sheet in the 1-0 win over IU Indy.  It was the seventh career shutout for the junior goalkeeper moving her into a tie for seventh on the EIU career shutouts list.  
 
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 will face a pair of familiar opponents from the Hoosier State this week with matches against Indiana State and Purdue Fort Wayne.   Thursday's contest will be the 22nd meeting between EIU and Indiana State with the Sycamores holding a 9-6-6 all-time lead in the series.   The teams have played to a draw in each of their last three matchups.  On Sunday EIU will travel to Fort Wayne for their tenth all-time meeting with the Mastodons.   EIU holds a slim 4-3-2 edge in the series with Purdue Fort Wayne winning the last match-up between the schools.   EIU assistant coach Deanna Hecht is a former player at Purdue Fort Wayne. 

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 11-21-10 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.