Eastern Illinois senior forward Casey Welage was named the Ohio Valley Conference Offensive Player of the Week.
 
Welage helped the Panthers pick up their first win of the season last Tuesday at Northern Illinois before a tough road loss on Sunday at Central Arkansas.
 
In the road win at NIU, Welage finished with three points in the match.  He scored EIU's first goal of the match for his third career goal at EIU.  He then assisted on EIU's second goal of the match which put EIU up 2-0 at halftime against the Huskies.   He is the first EIU player this season to finish a match with multiple points.   EIU had two players do it last season with Sam Eccles against Wright State and David Brown against Southern Indiana.
 
EIU opens OVC play this Saturday at Western Illinois before finally returning home to Lakeside Field for the regular season home opener on Thursday, October 2 against Lindenwood.