The Eastern women’s soccer team has struggled offensively so far this season. In four road match, the Panthers have only scored one goal.

Eastern hoped playing its first matches at Lakeside Field would bolster the offense.

Unfortunately that was not the case as Eastern (0-4-1) dropped both of its home weekend games this weekend falling to Wright State (4-1-0) 1-0 on Friday and 4-0 to Eastern Michigan (2-1-2) on Sunday.

Although the scores would not suggest it, Panthers’ head coach Tim Nowak said he was much more pleased with his team’s effort against Eastern Michigan then he was in the loss to the Raiders.

“They played too much as individuals (against Wright State),” Nowak said. “They didn’t know the meaning of team, everyone played for themselves. We didn’t deserve to win that game.”

The Raiders’ lone goal came on a header by senior midfielder Jess Rooma off of a corner kick by freshman midfielder Sara Palermo. Rooma maneuvered between two Panthers defenders and knocked the ball past Panthers sophomore goalkeeper Kaylin Lorbert.

“She was open at the penalty kick area and jumped in there and was able to get the header on goal,” said Lorbert, who had two saves.

In the Panthers’ 4-0 loss to Eastern Michigan, the team trailed 1-0 at halftime before allowing three goals early in the second half. Nowak said the goals were due to his team’s inability to control their own 18-yard box.

“It was unfortunate because we’re usually good at winning the ball in our own 18,” said Nowak, whose team dropped to 6-6 all-time against the Eagles. “We were just a little slow recovering defensively.”

The Eagles’ first goal came when junior midfielder Katie Lozar took a pass from junior forward Ashley Rodrigues at the top of the 18-yard box and fired a shot into the bottom left corner of the goal.

Rodrigues finished with three assists.

Sophomore forward Paige Sheridan knocked in the second goal of the match when she battled for the ball in front of the goal and was able to get it past Lorbert in heavy traffic.

Freshman midfielder Chelsea Detrick scored a pair of late goals to cap off the scoring for the Eagles, giving her three on the season.

Despite the loss, Nowak said he was still pleased with his team’s effort against the Eagles.

“Soccer’s a funny game,” Nowak said. “I saw the team play with a lot more passion (against Eastern Michigan) then they did (against Wright State). If we would have played with the type of energy we had Sunday on Friday we would’ve won.”

The Panthers hit the road for four straight games this week starting with a 4 p.m. game against Ball State this Friday in Muncie, Ind.

Collin Whitchurch can be reached at 581-7944 or at cfwhitchurch@eiu.edu.

Farhan Aziz said students could expect to learn about the opportunities studying abroad provides today.

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