With just three matches remaining on the Eastern women’s soccer team’s regular season schedule, it’s must-win time for the Panthers in the Ohio Valley Conference.

“Coming down to the end now, we’re trying to see who is going to get into the (OVC) Tournament and who isn’t,” senior forward Rachel Hamilton said. “We know that getting a win – three points instead of one – is better than getting a tie.”

The Panthers (6-5-5, 2-1-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference) will enter Friday’s game at Eastern Kentucky, sitting in fifth place in the OVC standings.

Their opponent, EKU (4-9-3, 1-2-3), is in seventh.

“It’s a must win game for us, and it’s a must win game for EKU,” head coach Summer Perala said.

With only six teams getting bids to the conference tournament this season, the Panthers and the Colonels are on the edge of being either out or in. So, now more than ever, it’s important to get a win, Perala said.

“I think (the women) understand the importance of getting a win rather than going through and just getting a tie off of it,” Perala said. “The last few games we’ve needed wins.”

In its past three matches, the team has gone 1-1-1, so Hamilton said the team has to remain focused by not getting distracted by school or something else.

“We’ve got to stay organized and stay focused on soccer because there’s not much left,” Hamilton said.

Perala said it is going to be important to keep the momentum the team gained from last weekend’s win and tie, and bring them into the EKU match and Sunday’s game against Morehead State – the No. 1 team in the OVC.

“To have the confidence of getting the win Sunday, and tying the No. 1 team at the time in conference this past Friday, we know that we have what it takes to get the job done,” Perala said. “So, we’ve just got to keep up with that.”

It will be equally important to keep the pressure on their opponents, after they score a goal, according to Perala, because there is no guarantee that the match is done.

“We always say, ‘Score again! Score again! Get the nail in the coffin,'” Perala said. “We want to get into the situation where we know the game is put away and we can relax a little bit.”

The Panthers will be facing two top-tier goalies, this weekend, both having won the OVC Goalkeeper of the Week award twice.

EKU’s Stephanie Lynch allows just 1.28 goals per match, having notched five shutouts. Morehead State’s Lily Meisner has four shutouts to her name. Perala said they’re both good shot-blockers.

Perala said Eastern Kentucky has two good forwards, who are technical and able to distribute and get to the end line. Perala said her team has to be sharp and communicate as they did in the past few matches.

Friday’s match against Eastern Kentucky begins at 3 p.m. in Richmond, Ky. The Panthers play Morehead State at noon on Sunday in Morehead, Ky.

Alex McNamee can be reached at 581-7944 or

admcnamee@eiu.edu.

OVC Standings

Team

OVC

Overall

Morehead State

4-0-2

7-6-3

UT Martin

4-2-0

7-6-0

Tennessee Tech

3-2-2

4-10-3

Murray State

3-2-1

5-7-2

E. Illinois

2-1-2

6-5-5

SE Missouri

2-1-2

7-5-2

E. Kentucky

1-2-3

4-9-3

Austin Peay

0-3-2

1-10-4

Jacksonville State

0-6-0

6-10-0

Top six teams make the OVC Tournament

Eastern junior forward Kaitlin Sullivan kicks the ball away from a Tennessee Tech opponent during a match Oct. 16 at Lakeside Field. (Amir Prellberg/The Daily Eastern News)

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