Eastern women’s soccer scoring woes continued this weekend as they failed to score in a pair of matches to open Ohio Valley Conference play.

The Panthers dropped a 1-0 decision at Tennessee Martin on Friday before falling 3-0 in their OVC home opener to Murray State on Sunday at Lakeside Field.

These weekend losses came to the two OVC teams with the most non-conference victories on the season. The Skyhawks entered Friday’s contest with five non-conference victories and the Racers had four non-conference wins and one conference victory entering Sunday’s contest.

In the loss to Murray State, the Panthers and Racers played to a 0-0 tie at halftime. Both Eastern junior goalkeeper Jenny Williams and Murray State sophomore goalkeeper Tara Isbell made several key saves to keep the game scoreless. The Racers’ best scoring chance of the first half came when sophomore midfielder Katie Wilson headed the ball towards the goal off of a pass inside the 18-yard box. Williams had to dive to her right and was able to deflect the ball out of bounds with her outstretched arms.

Unfortunately for the Panthers, the second half was a different story. The Racers came out and gained quick momentum as freshman midfielder Sophie Hargreaves knocked in her fourth goal on the season just two minutes into the second half.

At the 62nd minute, Wilson scored her third goal of the season on a deflected pass that got past Williams.

“That first goal was a mistake in our defending,” Eastern head coach Tim Nowak said. “The second goal they scored was a great shot that deflected off of their own player’s head and changed direction enough to get past our keeper.”

After the loss Nowak was very adamant in saying that his team played a very hard-fought game, despite the final score.

“Anyone who knows anything about soccer and saw this game knows that this game was a lot closer then the score,” Nowak said. “It sounds crazy after a 3-0 game, but I’m incredibly proud of these girls. We couldn’t catch breaks but they never let their heads down and fought for 90 minutes.”

The Panthers hit the road next Sunday, as they’ll head to Jacksonville, Ala., to take on Jacksonville State at 1 p.m.

They return home on Oct. 10 for a 4 p.m. contest against Eastern Kentucky.

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

Sophomore defender Rebecca Holcomb and Murray State sophomore forward Kalli McCoy trip over Eastern’s goalkeeper, junior Jenny Williams, as she rushes forward to save the ball during Sunday afternoon’s game at Lakeside Field. Eastern lost to Murray State

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