Eastern Illinois (4-5-3, 2-1 OVC) vs. Southeast Missouri (3-6-4, 2-0-1 OVC)
Thursday,  October 15
3 pm at Charleston, Ill. (Lakeside Field)
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Eastern Illinois at Morehead State (5-9, 0-3 OVC)
Sunday,  October 18
12 pm at Morehead, Ky. (MSU Soccer Field)
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ON-TAP:  Eastern Illinois women's soccer will play its lone double match week of the conference season this week as EIU hosts Southeast Missouri on Thursday before heading to Morehead State on Sunday.  EIU improved to 4-5-3 overall, 2-1 in the OVC with a 3-0 win over Lindenwood on Sunday.   The Panthers host Southeast Missouri with the Redhawks coming off a 2-1 win against Morehead State to improve to 3-6-4 overall, 2-0-1 in the OVC.   Morehead State will play UT Martin on Thursday before welcoming EIU to campus on Sunday afternoon.  The Eagles enter the week at 5-9 overall, 0-3 in the OVC.
 
NEXT UP: After the pair of matches this week for Eastern Illinois the Panthers wrap up the regular season over the next two weeks with one match on each Sunday.  EIU visits Southern Indiana on Oct. 25 before hosting UT Martin on Nov. 1.
 
OVC AWARD CLEAN SWEEP: Eastern Illinois women's soccer made a clean sweep of the Ohio Valley Conference weekly awards following the 3-0 win over Lindenwood on Sunday.  Ella Kratochvil was named the OVC Goalkeeper of the Week for the fourth time this season as she turned in her sixth clean sheet while becoming the school's all-time leader in career shutouts with 20.  Colleen Bauer won her second OVC Defensive Player of the Week award logging all 90 minutes on the pitch as the Panthers posted their sixth shutout of the year.  Freshman Amara Leppla was named the OVC Offensive Player of the Week after her five point performance.  She assisted on the match winner while finding the net two other times.
 
KRATOCHVIL GETS THE RECORD: Ella Kratochvil moved to the top of EIU leader board on Sunday as the senior goalkeeper posted her 20th career shutout in the 3-0 win over Lindenwood.  It was the sixth shutout of the season for Kratochvil which is currently tied for the sixth most on the EIU single season list.   Kratochvil broke the record of 19.5 set by Tiffany Groene from 2002-05.  Based on that shutout effort, Kratochvil earned her fourth OVC Goalkeeper of the Week honor.  She added five saves in the match increasing her career total to 255 saves which ranks fifth on the EIU career list.   She made her 49th start in goal against Lindenwood which moves her into fifth all-time for the Panthers.
 
LEPPLA GOAL STREAK: Freshman Amara Leppla extended her consecutive match streak with at least one goal to four straight with a pair of goals in Sunday's win over Lindenwood.  She finished with a five point match passing out one assist and knocking home two goals which earned her OVC Offensive Player of the Week honors.  Leppla's first collegiate goal came in the final non-conference match at Marquette before finding a goal in the first three OVC contests of the season.  She is now the EIU team leader in both goals (5) and total points (12) with both of those statistics ranking second in the OVC.  Last season as a high school senior she was the Wisconsin Gatorade Player of the Year scoring 39 goals during the season.
 
REINL MOVES UP ONE SPOT: Abby Reinl added another goal and assist to her EIU career totals as the senior picked up her third goal and third assist of the season.   Her first goal against Lindenwood was the match winner giving the 2024 OVC Midfielder of the Year six match winning goals, tied for eighth most in school history.   Her 20 EIU career goals rank her ninth all time at EIU while she ranks 11th on the Panthers career charts with 46 points. 
 
TETTEH CRACKS TOP TEN: Alex Tetteh has already moved into the EIU career top ten for both goals scored and match winning goals this season.  On Sunday, her assist on the final goal of the match by Amara Leppla moved the senior into 10th place on the EIU points scored list with 47 career points.  Tetteh is eighth at EIU with 21 career goals and eighth with six match winning goals.  She has been an All-OVC selection in each of her previous season including first team honors in each of the last two years.
 
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.
 
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.
 
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 returns to a double dip of soccer matches this week with contests against both Southeast Missouri and Morehead State.  EIU and Southeast Missouri meet for the 34th time on Thursday with the Redhawks holding a 15-14-3 all-time series lead.  EIU picked up a win last season in what is the second most played series for the Panthers in program history.   EIU and Morehead State have met nearly an equal number of times with Sunday's contest being the 33rd in the series.   EIU holds a 16-10-6 all-time series lead winning 1-0 last year.

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 21-30-16 career record, including 13-11-6 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.