Live Stats | Game Notes | UTM WSoccer

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois women's soccer closes out its home and regular-season schedules at Lakeside Field Saturday by hosting UT Martin in a makeup game following a postponement on the originally scheduled Oct. 9 date.

 

Kickoff is slated for noon on Halloween. Coincidentally, UT Martin's last visit to Lakeside Field was also on Halloween, for the opening round of the 2006 Ohio Valley Conference Tournament. The Panthers also played at home on Halloween in 1997, 1999, 2003 and 2007.

 

Both EIU and UTM have locked up berths in next week's OVC Tournament, which opens Nov. 5 in Morehead, Ky. Saturday's game will be the final OVC contest played around the league this season and help determine the tournament seeding for all but host Morehead.

 

The Panthers (7-6-5, 3-2-2 OVC – 11 points) can finish as high as third in the final regular-season standings with a win and a Murray State (13 points) loss to Southeast Missouri (9 points) Thursday. A draw or a loss Saturday, and EIU could end up fourth, fifth or sixth. With all five OVC Tournament games being held at the same site for the first time this season, the advantages of being the No. 3 and 4 seeds have diminished a bit. Previously, those teams hosted opening-round tourney games.

 

The Skyhawks (8-6, 5-2 OVC – 14 points) can claim a share of the league's regular-season crown and clinch the tourney's No. 2 seed, which is awarded a first-round bye, with a win. UT Martin can finish no lower than third in the final standings.

 

The Skyhawks are the top defensive team in the conference, surrendering only 12 goals in 14 games and posting seven of their eight victories in shutout fashion. Eastern has scored in 12 consecutive home games dating back to last season and is 4-1-4 at Lakeside Field this fall. With a goal Saturday, EIU will have scored in every home game for the first time since 2003.

 

Thirteen different UTM players have accounted for the team's 23 goals this season. UT Martin has scored in six straight games since getting shutout in an overtime loss at Tennessee Tech to begin OVC play.

 

Four of the last five EIU-UTM games dating back to 2005 have ended in a 1-0 final. The Skyhawks have won each of the last two years in Northwestern Tennessee, posting their first two victories in series history in the process.

 

Sarah Rusk is the only active Panther with a goal against UTM, accounting for a game-tying score in the 2007 overtime loss in Martin. Eastern was shutout for the first time in OVC play this season in the overtime loss at Morehead State Sunday.

 

With the Skyhawks last regular-season appearance at Lakeside Field being in the 2006 OVC opener on Sept. 22 of that year, it's believed to the longest amount of time any current conference rival has gone between regular-season trips to Charleston. The Panthers earned the right to host the 2006 OVC Tourney game against UTM by finishing third in the standings that season.

 

If finishing tied in the final standings with Murray State, Tennessee Tech or Southeast Missouri, Eastern would come up on the short end of all three tiebreakers for a higher tournament seed. The Panthers lost at Murray Oct. 11. Tech and SEMO would get the higher seed based on their draws with top-seeded Morehead.

Southeast Missouri needs a win or draw against Murray Thursday to clinch the final OVC Tournament berth. If Murray wins, Eastern Kentucky would be locked in as the tournament's sixth seed.

More Info: Contact Ben Turner, Asst. SID