Eastern Illinois (4-4-2 / 1-0 OVC) at Western Illinois (1-10 / 0-1 OVC)
Thursday, September 25
5 pm at Macomb, Ill. (Northwest Field)
Live Stats  |  Watch on ESPN+
 
Eastern Illinois at UT Martin (0-4-6 / 0-0-1 OVC)
Sunday, September 28
2 pm at Martin, Tenn. (Skyhawk Soccer Field)
Live Stats  |  Watch on ESPN+

 
ON-TAP:  Eastern Illinois opened Ohio Valley Conference play with a win for the first time since the 2018 season as the Panthers beat SIUE 2-0 on Sunday.   EIU is now 4-4-2 on the season including the 1-0 OVC start.  EIU travels on Thursday to face Western Illinois.  The Leathernecks are 1-10 overall having lost ten straight after a season opening win over St. Ambrose.  WIU lost its OVC opener 1-0 to Morehead State.  On Sunday, EIU will travel to UT Martin.  The Skyhawks played to a 0-0 draw with Southern Indiana to open OVC play, the third straight scoreless tie for the team.  Overall UTM enters the week at 0-4-6.  The Skyhawks play at Lindenwood on Thursday before hosting EIU. 
 
NEXT UP: Eastern Illinois returns to the road this weekend for OVC action as the Panthers play at both Western Illinois and UT Martin.  Following the two OVC road contests, EIU will be back at home to host Morehead State on Sunday, October 5 for the 30th anniversary game at Lakeside Field.
 
SHUTOUT FOR KRATOCHVIL: Ella Kratochvil posted her third straight shutout in the Panthers OVC opening 2-0 win over SIUE.  It was the fourth shutout this year for the junior goalkeeper with clean sheets also against Purdue Fort Wayne, IU Indy and Illinois State.   Kratochvil now has ten career shutouts as she ranks seventh on the EIU career list just behind Jeanine Fredrick (1997-00) and Lindsay Dechert (2001-04) both tied at fifth with 10.5 career shutouts.  This season Kratochvil has a 1.00 goals against average which ranks third in the Ohio Valley Conference.  She has made 40 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 2-0 OVC opening win over SIUE.   She was one of six field players to play all 90 minutes in the OVC opener.  This season she leads all players with 872 minutes played on the pitch.   She is joined by Kate Germano (783 minutes) as EIU field players with more than 750 minutes played this year.   EIU has four other players Adison Welsh (696), Abby Reinl (661), Ella Onstott (636) and Alex Tetteh (616) who have each logged more than 600 minutes.  The Panthers are allowing opponents only 43 percent of their total shots as shots on goals with just ten percent of total shots this season resulting in a goal.

MAY WITH MATCH WINNER:  Junior Katiebeth May scored the opening goal of the OVC season for Eastern Illinois finding the back of the net with just under two minutes remaining in the opening half.  The tally proved to be the match winner for the Panthers.  It was the second goal of May's career as she scored and passed out an assist during her freshman season in a win over Illinois Springfield.
 
REINL SCORING STREAK: Abby Reinl tacked on an insurance goal in the final six minutes in Sunday's win over SIUE.  It was the fifth goal of the season for Reinl who currently ranks second in the OVC in goals this season after ranking second in the league last year.  The goal was also the 16th of Reinl's career moving her into a tie for 10th on the EIU career goals scored list with Diane Markus (1995-98).   Earlier this season Reinl was named the OVC Player of the Week for her three goal performance in matches at Valparaiso and at Northern Illinois.
 
SPREADING THE POINTS AROUND: Katiebeth May became the fifth different Panthers player to score a goal this season when she found the net just prior to halftime against SIUE.   Abby Reinl then tacked on the insurance goal in the final six minutes of regulation.   Reinl leads all players on the team with five goals followed by May, Ella Onstott, Ella Dwyer and Alex Tetteh all with one goal each.  Onstott, Dwyer and Tetteh each had an assist to their credit along with a goal with Onstott second on the team with four total points after passing out her second assist of the season on Sunday against SIUE.  Four other players – Camylle Graves, Ella Kratochvil, Ameila Mundo and Kate Germano – all have one point with an assist giving EIU a total of nine different players with at least one offensive point this season.  
 
OVC OPENERS: Eastern Illinois posted its first win to open a conference slate since the 2018 season with Sunday's 2-0 win over SIUE.  The Panthers snapped what had been a three-match losing streak in OVC openers.  EIU had been 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.   Prior to Sunday, the last time EIU opened an OVC season at home with a win was 2011 with a 2-0 win over Tennessee Tech. 
 
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.
 
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 continues OVC play this week as the Panthers have road matches at Western Illinois and UT Martin.  EIU and WIU will be meeting for the 21st time on Thursday evening with the Panthers holding an 11-6-3 all-time lead in the series.  EIU won 4-0 last year after the two schools played to a 0-0 draw in 2023, the first OVC meeting between the two programs.   EIU closes out the weekend on Sunday with the 31st meeting against UT Martin.   The all-time series is deadlocked at 13-13-4.  The Skyhawks won 1-0 last year and have won two straight in the series. 

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 13-21-12 career record, including 7-7-5 in the OVC making the OVC Tournament field in each of his two seasons as head coach. He is assisted by Deanna Hecht.