To say the referees in the Eastern against Western Kentucky game were busy on Saturday would be an understatement.

The two teams combined for 27 fouls, 11 yellow cards and two red cards.

But when it was all said and done, the Panthers (10-4-3, 2-2-1 Missouri Valley Conference) defeated Western Kentucky (2-11-4, 0-4-1) 3-1 in Bowling Green, Ky.

Eastern head coach Adam Howarth was pleased his team was able to grind out a tough road victory.

“That was just a grind it out type of game,” Howarth said. “There were a lot of yellow and red cards. It was a tough place to play we just battled.”

The Panthers dominated the first half of the game scoring all three of their goals in the first 45 minutes.

Senior defender Jeremy Maubach scored his first collegiate goal in the sixth minute of the match to give the Panthers an early lead.

“It was off a set piece throw-in,” Maubach said. “Mick flicked it into the box. Their player took a terrible touch and I just took it off him and kicked it in.”

Senior midfielder Mick Galeski and junior defender Adam Gartner assisted on the goal.

Western Kentucky tied the game soon after when WKU’s junior midfielder Bernard Airo scored off a corner in the 14th minute.

After that, it was all Panthers.

For the fourth time this season, teammates Galeski and junior forward Brad Peters found the back of the net.

Peters struck first recording his 11th goal of the season of an assist from Galeski. Peters’ goal tied his season total from last season when he beat the goalie was a strike off the outside of his foot.

Galeski scored his seventh goal of the season with 50 seconds left in the first half. Freshman midfielder Darby Kehoe played the ball to Galeski who nailed a strike to the bottom left-hand corner of the goal.

Eastern was able to shut down WKU 6’5 forward Andy Masteller with a number of defensive schemes.

“On all set pieces we doubled him,” Maubach said. “We always had one person in front of him to stop him from getting the ball.”

Eastern junior goalkeeper Mark Hansen started for the first time for the Panthers since the Sept. 25 match against Western Illinois. The goalkeeper responded with five saves in 90 minutes of work.

Bowling Green, Ky. had been pounded by rain all week, but the field held up for the match.

“The field was in great shape,” Howarth said. “There was even a women’s game on the field Friday, and it looked great.”

The win for the Panthers guarantees the team a spot in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament next month in Omaha, Neb.

The Panthers will look for their third conference win of the season against Bradley (9-4-3, 2-0-2) at 2 p.m. Saturday at Lakeside Field.