Eastern senior defender Ashley Slota increased her consecutive starts streak to 41 following the Panthers’ road matches at Western Kentucky and Western Illinois.

Slota’s streak is the second longest in team history.

Former Eastern forward Kellie Floyd started 61 consecutive matches from 2005-2007.

Against Ball State on Sept. 12, however, Slota found herself in a different position than she was accustomed to playing.

She started the match in the center midfield position for the first time in her career.

Despite the position switch, Slota said it was still business as usual for her.

“At first I felt a little out of place, but after a while it was fine,” Slota said. “It’s basically the same thing as playing defense but instead I have to stay put in the center.”

Eastern head coach Tim Nowak said he was pleased with how Slota and Eastern’s other seniors played against Ball State.

“I thought our seniors really, really stepped up and showed what it means to compete at this level,” said Nowak after the 2-0 loss. “We played Ashley in a position that is different from what she’s played normally but she did a wonderful job of stepping up in that role.”

Panthers on a slide

In Friday’s Ohio Valley Conference opener at Tennessee Martin, the Panthers will try to avoid tying a not-so-flattering team record.

After recording a tie on Aug. 31 against Northern Iowa at the Northern Illinois Invitational, the Panthers have dropped five straight matches.

The team record of six consecutive losses was set in 2005 when the team opened the season with a win against North Texas before losing six straight from Aug. 28-Sept. 11. During that streak the Panthers were shut out four times.

The Panthers have been shut out in all five matches during the current streak.

Nowak’s homecoming

Sunday’s match at Western Illinois was a familiar setting for Nowak.

Nowak is a 1997 Western graduate and was the Leathernecks’ goalkeeper from 1993-1997. He also spent the 1999-2000 school year as a graduate assistant for Western head coach Eric Johnson.

Despite the fact he played his college soccer in Macomb, Nowak downplayed the homecoming, saying it was just another game for the Panthers and his focus was on coaching his team.

“It’s just a regular game,” Nowak said. “They’re an in-state rival, and that’s how I look at it. I don’t look at the opponents on the schedule and say I’m going to coach extra-hard. Every game is a big game. It doesn’t matter who it is.”

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