The Eastern men’s soccer team’s winless streak reached nine matches as the Panthers fell to Missouri State 1-0 in overtime Saturday in Springfield, Mo.

Eastern played well according to Eastern head coach Adam Howarth, but the Bears were able to score in the 97th minute on a header off a corner kick to seal the victory.

Eastern (5-9-1, 0-4 Missouri Valley Conference) dropped its fifth straight match, as Missouri State (6-7-4, 3-1-1 MVC) finished conference play with 10 points.

Bears’ junior forward Nick Dryden was able to put the ball on the inside post off a corner by freshman midfielder Gerard Barbero, something Eastern freshman midfielder Ryan Child said was ironic, because the Panthers were dangerous on set pieces all game.

“They got a free header off a corner and were able to put it in the back of the net,” Child said. “I thought we had some better chances on set plays and created a lot of chances, but unfortunately we did not score.”

Child had one of the Panthers’ better scoring chances in overtime. The ball was crossed to the freshman, and he said he tried to guide the ball in with his left foot. A Missouri State defender was able to move quick enough to clear the ball at the goal line.

“I probably shouldn’t have tried to guide it and just smashed it,” Child said.

Howarth said Eastern played well and battled with the Bears, but got unlucky in the overtime period.

The Bears outshot the Panthers 20-7 in the match, but Eastern had the advantage in shots on goal at 7-4.

Senior goalkeeper Mark Hansen returned to the goal for Eastern and finished with three saves. He said the Bears’ offense was direct – something the Panthers were expecting.

“They were a little quicker than we had been told by the scouts, but they still did a lot of the things we were expecting,” Howarth said. “They were direct and got the ball out quick.”

Howarth said the Panthers switched things up a little bit on defense, but he thought the unit played well.

Child said he was encouraged by the team’s effort and said he knows it will carry to the final regular season match against Creighton.

“We proved to all of us we could fight and be in it,” Child said. “This was the first game in a while we did not make any mistakes. We are confident we can beat Creighton. We can win games in the conference tournament, and we can win that too.”

The Panthers’ final regular season match will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Lakeside Field when Eastern hosts Creighton. The match will also be Senior Appreciation day.

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

Senior midfielder Mike Lewis tries to take control of the ball against Evansville Oct. 25 at Lakeside Field. The Panthers lost Saturday at Missouri State 1-0 in overtime. (Amir Prellberg

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