Eastern Illinois (1-0-1) at Purdue (1-0-1)
Sunday, August 23
12 pm at West Lafayette, Ind. (Folk Field)
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ON-TAP:  Eastern Illinois will play its third match of the season on Sunday as the Panthers visit Big Ten member Purdue.  EIU is off to a 1-0-1 start to the season having won its season opener 2-0 over Valparaiso before playing to a 0-0 draw with UIC.  The win over Valparaiso was the Panthers first win to open a regular season since the 2017 campaign.  Purdue opened the season with a 1-0-1 record as well and will host Chicago State on Thursday before the Panthers make the trek to West Lafayette.
 
NEXT UP: Following the Sunday trip to Purdue, Eastern Illinois will be at home for a pair of matches next week at Lakeside Field.  EIU hosts Indiana State on Thursday, August 27 before welcoming Purdue Fort Wayne on Sunday, August 30.
 
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.  The two shutouts moved her into a tie for third on the EIU all-time shutouts list with 16, tying Jenny Williams (2006-09).  The school record is 19.5 by Tiffany Groene (2002-05) with Sara Teteak (2016-19) second with 19 shutouts. 
 
MUNDO WITH FIRST 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.
 
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. 
  
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 will play just one match this week as they visit Big Ten member Purdue.  This will be the fifth all-time meeting between the two schools with the Boilermakers holding a 4-0 all-time series lead.  The schools last played in 2012 with Purdue posting a 2-1 win over Eastern Illinois.  One of the four meetings was in the 2002 NCAA Tournament with Purdue beating EIU on penalty kicks, winning 3-1 after a 1-1 score following regulation and two overtime periods.   

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 18-25-14 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.