Eastern Illinois (2-5-3, 0-1 OVC) vs. Western Illinois (1-11, 0-1 OVC)
Sunday,  October 4
12 pm at Charleston, Ill. (Lakeside Field)
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ON-TAP:  Eastern Illinois returns to Lakeside Field for the next two weeks as the Panthers host Western Illinois this week for Senior Day and then welcome Lindenwood next week.  EIU dropped its OVC opener on the road at SIUE last week falling to 2-5-3 on the season, 0-1 in the OVC.   EIU will host a Western Illinois team that comes in at 1-11 overall, 0-1 in the OVC following a 1-0 loss to Southeast Missouri in its conference opener.
 
NEXT UP: Eastern Illinois will continue its string of one match per week over the first three weeks of the conference season as the Panthers welcome Lindenwood on Sunday (October 11) to Charleston following Sunday matches at SIUE to open OVC play and this Sunday's home match with Western Illinois.
 
REINL MOVES UP ONE SPOT: Abby Reinl picked up her second goal of the season scoring in the OVC opener last Sunday at SIUE.  The goal was the 19th over her career as she is tenth on the Panthers career goals scored chart.  Reinl, the OVC Midfielder of the Year in 2025, currently leads the Panthers in scoring this season with six points – 2 goals, 2 assists.  Her first goal of the year came in the win over Purdue Fort Wayne. 
 
LEPPLA SCORES FIRST CAREER GOAL: Freshman Amara Leppla scored her first career goal in the Panthers final non-conference match of the season at Marquette.  She found the goal for a second straight match in the OVC opener scoring late in the contest at SIUE moving into a tie for the EIU season leaders in goals scored with two each.  Leppla had an assist earlier this year and is second on the Panthers team in points this season.  Last season as a high school senior she was the Wisconsin Gatorade Player of the Year scoring 39 goals during the season.
 
SENIOR DAY MATCH: Eastern Illinois plays its 2026 senior day match this Sunday as the Panthers host Western Illinois at Lakeside Field.  EIU will honor the eight members of its senior class which includes Ella Kratochvil, Ashlyn Nobles, Abby Reinl, Katiebeth May, Brooklynn Greene, Amelia Mundo, Isabella Hubble and Alex Tetteh.
 
OVC PRESEASON POLL:  Eastern Illinois opens the 2026 Ohio Valley Conference season with the Panthers having been selected second in the OVC preseason poll released back in August.  EIU received five first place votes and was second in the preseason poll behind Lindenwood with nine first place votes.  Southern Indiana was third in the preseason poll with two first place votes.   SIUE was tabbed fifth in the preseason poll for the year.   All eight teams in the conference will qualify for this year's OVC Tournament. 
 
KRATOCHVIL TAKES HOME ANOTHER WEEKLY HONOR: Senior goalkeeper Ella Kratochvil picked up her third Ohio Valley Conference Goalkeeper of the Week honor on Sept. 15 following her performance last week against Illinois State and Cincinnati.   Kratochvil turned away eight shots in a 1-0 loss on Thursday to Illinois State.  On Sunday she had three saves as EIU played to a 0-0 draw with Big 12 Conference member Cincinnati.  It was the fifth shutout this season by Kratochvil.
 
BAUER, KRATOCHVIL WIN OVC WEEK THREE HONORS: Eastern Illinois turned in a pair of clean sheets last week against Indiana State and Purdue Fort Wayne with a pair of Panthers collecting OVC weekly honors.  Colleen Bauer was named the OVC Defender of the Week while Ella Kratochvil picked up her second OVC Goalkeeper of the Week honor.   Bauer logged all 180 minutes on the pitch, the only EIU field player to do so.   EIU allowed just five shots on goal for the week including just one shot on goal Sunday by Purdue Fort Wayne.  Kratochvil posted her third and fourth shutouts of the season turning away all five shots on net.
 
TETTEH ON THE BOARD: Alex Tetteh was EIU's leading goal scorer last season earning first team All-OVC honors.  After missing the first couple of matches this season due to injury, Tetteh found the net twice in Sunday's 3-0 win over Purdue Fort Wayne.  The two goals moved the senior striker's career goal total to 20, eighth on the EIU career list.  Her first half goal off a header by Abby Reinl and Amelia Mundo proved to be her sixth career match winning goal ranking tied for eighth at EIU.  Tetteh scored eight goals last season and seven during her sophomore campaign.
 
OFF TO A GREAT START: Eastern Illinois got off to a great start to the 2026 season with a 2-0 win over Valparaiso.  It marked EIU's first win to open the regular season since 2017.   In addition, EIU turned in a pair of clean sheets as the Panthers closed the week with a 0-0 draw at UIC.  It was just the third time in program history that EIU has opened a season with back-to-back shutouts.  The last time was in 2022 with four straight shutouts to open the year.  The other time was back in 2010.
 
KITTRIDGE, KRATOCHVIL WIN OVC WEEK ONE HONORS: Based on the production by the defensive backline and solid goalkeeping, Eastern Illinois had two players earn Ohio Valley Conference honors following week one of the season.  Casey Kittridge was named the OVC Defender of the Week.  She played all 90 minutes against Valparaiso and a team-high 71 minutes (field player) in Sunday's scoreless draw with UIC.  Ella Kratochvil, last year's OVC Goalkeeper of the Year, made six saves in each match as she was named the OVC Goalkeeper of the Week.  It marked the fourth time the senior has won the award in her EIU career.
 
KRATOCHVIL MOVES UP EIU CAREER LIST: Senior goalkeeper Ella Kratochvil added two shutouts to her career total during the opening week of the 2026 season as she continues to move up the EIU career record book list for goalkeepers.  Kratochvil added her fifth shutout of the season last Sunday with a 0-0 draw at Cincinnati, the fifth shutout of her career.   Kratochvil is now tied for second on the EIU career shutouts list with 19.  In addition, she is now fifth all-time at EIU with 244 saves and sixth all-time with 47 matches started in goal.  The school record is 19.5 by Tiffany Groene (2002-05) with Sara Teteak (2016-19) second with 19 shutouts. 
 
MUNDO WITH FIRST EIU CAREER GOAL: Amelia Mundo scored her first EIU career goal in the opening win over Valparaiso.  The Panthers had taken a 1-0 lead in the third minute on a Beacons own goal.   Mundo provided the insurance goal for EIU in the final three minutes of action.  Last season Mundo appeared in 14 matches passing out one assist.  She began her career at NCAA Division II Missouri S&T scoring four goals as a freshman in 2023.
 
ALL-OVC HONORS: Eastern Illinois had four players earn All-Ohio Valley Conference honors for the 2025 season.  The Panthers had three first team selections in Ella Kratochvil (GK), Alex Tetteh (F) and Colleen Bauer (D) while Camylle Graves was named to the All-OVC Newcomer team.  The three first team All-OVC selections are the most for the Panthers since four EIU players had first team honors following the 2004 season.  All three first team selections from 2025 return for the 2026 season.
 
KRATOCHVIL NAMED TOP OVC GOALKEEPER: Ella Kratochvil was named the OVC Goalkeeper of the Year and a first team All-OVC selection for 2025.  During the year Kratochvil led the OVC in goals against average at 0.556 while ranking second in saves with 36.  Her five shutouts in nine OVC contests ranked tied for first in the league.  On the season Kratochvil posted eight total shutouts moving her career total to 14 which ranks tied for fourth on the EIU career list.   She is the second EIU goalkeeper to earn this award joining Sara Teteak (2019) when the award was given to the top defensive player.
 
OVC PLAYERS TO WATCH: In addition to the three returning All-OVC players from last year Eastern Illinois had two players named to the OVC Players to Watch list for the upcoming season.  Seniors Abby Reinl and Brooklynn Greene both were named to the preseason list for the Panthers.   
 
NEW FACES IN 2026: Eastern Illinois added four freshmen to the Panthers roster for the upcoming season after adding a goalkeeper from the transfer portal prior to the spring semester.  Sierra Cordola transferred in as a goalkeeper after playing at UC Davis during the 2025 fall semester.   The four incoming freshmen include Aleah Madeira, Kaeli McCartney, Sophie Oberheim and Amara Leppla.  All four had distinguished prep careers with Leppla named the Wisconsin Gatorade Player of the Year as a senior.

SPREADING THE POINTS AROUND: Eastern Illinois scored 17 goals and passed out 15 assists last season.   The Panthers had five different players score goals last season led by Alex Tetteh with eight and Abby Reinl with six.  Ella Dwyer, Katiebeth May and Ella Onstott each scored one goal.   Four of the five players return from last season with 16 of the 17 goals coming back this year (94 percent).  Eleven different players passed out at least one assist last year with seven of those players back accounting for 47 percent of last year's assists returning.

PROGRAM BUILDING:  Eastern Illinois continues to take steps to return to the top of the Ohio Valley Conference as the Panthers are coming off an 8-8-3 season with a 5-3-1 record in the OVC.   The eight wins were the most for the program since the 2007 season.   The .500 record was the first .500 or better season for the program since 2006.   The five OVC wins were the most for the program since the 2013 season and the winning OVC record was the first for the program since 2018.
 
EASTERN ILLINOIS HALL OF FAME TEAM: Eastern Illinois athletics inducted teams into its 2026 Athletic Hall of Fame marking the second time in the long history that a team's ceremony had taken place.   Part of the 2026 Hall of Fame Class is the EIU Women's Soccer 2001 Team.  The 2001 team posted a 14-6 record going on to win the OVC Tournament Championship.  The Panthers faced Notre Dame in the NCAA Tournament marking the first of four straight NCAA Tournament appearances for the program. 

SERIES HISTORY: Eastern Illinois and Western Illinois will meet for the 22nd time on Sunday afternoon as the Panthers host the Leathernecks for EIU's senior day at Lakeside Field.  Last season EIU won its second straight match in the series as Alex Tetteh tied a school and conference record with four goals in the match in Macomb as part of an EIU 4-0 victory.  The Panthers now hold a 12-6-3 all-time lead in the series. 

HEAD COACH: Dirk Bennett enters his fourth 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 19-30-16 career record, including 11-11-6 in the OVC making the OVC Tournament field in each of his three seasons as head coach. He is assisted by associate head coach Deanna Hecht.