Live Stats | Original EIU-UTM Game Preview | ISU's Memorial Stadium

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Weeklong rain showers in east central Illinois has forced Saturday's Eastern Illinois-UT Martin women's soccer game to be moved to Terre Haute, Ind., where it will be played at Indiana State's Memorial Stadium Saturday evening at 5 p.m. (CDT).

Memorial Stadium, located on the east side of Terre Haute, features a field turf playing surface and meets the minimum NCAA width requirement. It is also home to Indiana State football, which hosts Southern Illinois at 11 a.m. (CDT) Saturday.

 

Memorial Stadium is located on U.S. Route 40 between Brown Avenue and 34th Street.

 

O'Brien Field on EIU's campus is not wide enough to host a regular-season soccer match.

 

The EIU-UTM game has now been rescheduled twice. It was originally slated to be played Friday, Oct. 9 at Lakeside Field. The game was postponed due to rain and unfavorable field conditions, and rescheduled for Saturday, Oct. 31 at noon.

 

As the final league game around the Ohio Valley Conference this season, Saturday's contest will determine the second through fifth seeds for next week's OVC Tournament in Morehead, Ky. Top-seeded Morehead State and sixth-seeded Eastern Kentucky are currently the only teams locked in.

 

With Murray State (16 points) defeating Southeast Missouri Thursday, UT Martin (15 points) is now in third place. However, the Skyhawks can claim a share of the OVC regular-season title and the No. 2 seed with a victory. A draw would also give UTM the No. 2 seed based on its head-to-head win against Murray.

 

Eastern (11 points) is tied with Tennessee Tech for fourth place. The Panthers and Golden Eagles are guaranteed of playing each other Thursday, Nov. 5 in the four-five game of the OVC Tournament's opening round. With a win or draw Saturday, EIU would finish alone in fourth place. If UTM is victorious Saturday, Tech would get the higher seed based on its draw with top-seeded Morehead.

 

However, with all five OVC Tournament games being played at the same site for the first time this season, there is essentially no advantage in being the fourth seed as opposed to the fifth. Previously, the three and four seeds hosted opening-round tourney games on campus sites and the winners advanced to the final four at the regular-season OVC champion.

 

Indiana State moved its home games from the ISU Soccer Complex to Memorial Stadium beginning this season. Eastern is 3-2 all-time against the Sycamores in Terre Haute. All five games were played at the Soccer Complex.

The Panthers have played on field turf surfaces at Cleveland State, Southeast Missouri and Morehead State this season. Next week's OVC Tournament will be held at Morehead's Jayne Stadium, which features a field turf playing surface.

More Info: Contact Ben Turner, Asst. SID