The Eastern men’s soccer team dropped its second straight conference match and the fourth of its last six matches in a 3-1 loss to Drake on Saturday in Des Moines, Iowa.

The Panthers (5-6-3, 0-2 Missouri Valley Conference) surrendered one first half goal and two in the second half in the loss to the Bulldogs (10-3-0, 2-0 MVC).

“It was not one of our better performances of the season,” Eastern head coach Adam Howarth said. “But after looking at the tape in the second half we had them rattled. We let up one goal on a defensive error and another on a penalty kick. We got the score to 2-1 and got back into it, but we fell asleep.”

Eastern sophomore forward Alex Harrison said he thought Eastern’s defense played poorly in the loss.

“Defense cost us the game,” Harrison said. “We are better than we showed in that match.”

Drake freshman forward Hunter Kennedy scored the first goal of the match on a header in the 24th minute off an assist from junior midfielder Luke Gorczyca and senior midfielder Ryan Moylan.

Howarth said the goal came when Eastern freshman goalkeeper Mark Essary did not get out to the ball quick enough and Kennedy was able to beat Essary to the ball and head it in.

Moylan added a goal of his own in the 66th minute on a penalty kick.

The Bulldogs were rewarded with a penalty kick when junior defender Chris Pearson jumped in on a player while they were in the box.

Sophomore midfielder Matt Kuhn finished off the scoring for Drake with a goal from the right wing from 15 yards out in the 85th minute.

Eastern’s lone goal came in the 69th minute when Harrison scored his sixth goal of the season on a breakaway.

Harrison received a pass from senior forward Brad Peters and beat the goalkeeper to the left.

“Brad played it in to my feet, and I kept it in front of me and went to the right side,” Harrison said. “I was with the goalkeeper one-on-one and beat him to the far post.”

Freshman goalkeeper Mark Essary made his first start of the season and was credited with three saves.

Drake dominated shots as they had a 24-4 advantage against the Panthers, including an 8-0 advantage in the first half. Howarth said those numbers can be deceiving because the Panthers did limit the Bulldogs to only four shots on goal.

According to Howarth, the field was in bad shape as there was little grass and the majority of the field was mud.

“Did that affect the outcome of the game?” Howarth said. “Probably not. But it did not help with what we were trying to do.”

Harrison said the field was in bad shape, but both teams had to play on it.

“We knew it was going to be a hard game,” Harrison. “It was disappointing in the way we lost because we could have given them a better game.”

The Panthers next match will be a non-conference showdown at 3 p.m. Tuesday against Butler in Indianapolis, Ind.

Dan Cusack can be reached at 581-7944 or at dscusack@eiu.edu.

Junior defenders Evan Philpott (Left) and Chris Pearson try to defend Oral Roberts freshman midfielder Jarrett Hamilton Oct. 13 at Lakeside Field. Eastern lost 3-1 to Drake on Saturday.(Amir Prellberg

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