Eastern Illinois vs. Valparaiso
Thursday, August 13
3 pm at Charleston, Ill. (Lakeside Field)
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Eastern Illinois at UIC
Sunday, August 16
4 pm at Chicago, Ill. (Flames Field)
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ON-TAP:  Eastern Illinois will open the 2026 season on Thursday afternoon hosting Valparaiso.  It marks the first time since 2022 that the Panthers have opened a season at home.   The match against Valparaiso will also mark the fourth time the two schools have opened a soccer season against each other, the last in 2023, a 2-1 win by the Beacons in Valparaiso.   EIU will travel on Sunday to the Windy City to play UIC.
 
NEXT UP: Following the opening two matches of the season, Eastern Illinois will play just one match during Week 2 of the schedule with a Sunday, August 23 contest at Purdue.
 
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.
 
LOOKING FOR THAT OPENING W: Eastern Illinois looks to snap a streak of losing its season opening match when the Panthers host Valparaiso on Thursday.   EIU is 0-6-2 in its last eight season openers with the last win coming to open the 2017 season with a 2-0 win at IU Indy.   The Panthers two draws in that eight match stretch have both come against Valparaiso (2018 & 2022).  EIU's last win at home to open a season was in 2010 with a 2-0 win over IU Indy.

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.
 
OVC PRESEASON SELECTION: Eastern Illinois was picked to finish second in the OVC preseason poll for 2026 released in early August.   The Panthers received five first place votes and finished second in the preseason poll behind Lindenwood.   Southern Indiana was picked to finish third. 
 
EXHIBITION ACTION: Eastern Illinois did play two exhibition matches, both at home, prior to opening the 2026 season.   The Panthers hosted Southern Illinois and Chicago State for two competitions last week.    
 
EASTERN ILLINOIS HALL OF FAME TEAM: Eastern Illinois athletics will induct teams into its 2026 Athletic Hall of Fame marking the second time in the long history that a team's ceremony has taken place.   Part of the 2026 Hall of Fame Class will be 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 opens the 2026 season facing Valparaiso before a Sunday afternoon trip to play at UIC.  This will be the 20th meeting between Eastern Illinois and Valparaiso with the Panthers holding a 9-7-3 all-time series lead.   EIU has won two straight in the series including a 2-1 win on the road last season.  On Sunday EIU will be facing UIC for just the second time in program history.  The two schools played to a 0-0 draw in 2022.

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 17-25-13 career record, including 11-10-6 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.