Luck was on Eastern’s side Friday in the women soccer team’s match against Eastern Kentucky (5-10-3, 2-3-3 in the Ohio Valley Conference). No conventional goals were scored in the game, but the Panthers came out with a 1-0 victory.

The Panthers (7-6-5, 3-2-2 OVC) were outshot 15-3, but got lucky on a mishandled save by EKU’s junior goalkeeper Stephanie Lynch.

Sophomore defender Hillary Blake pushed the ball forward, getting off a cross that went high toward the far post. The goalie mishandled it and fumbled it into the net.

“Ashley Streid was pressuring the goalie, and the goalie fumbled it into the net,” Blake said.

From this point on, the game was in the hands of senior goalkeeper Jenny Williams who made seven saves, completing her 16th career shutout. Head coach Summer Perala said Williams was “on fire,” and kept Eastern in the game.

“We were very fortunate to get a win,” Perala said. “We weren’t quite as sharp as we had been the past few games and we weren’t able to connect as well and keep possession.”

Perala said the offense could never really get in rhythm during the game because the supporting runs off the ball weren’t quick enough.

“Once we got the ball forward, we didn’t have very many options,” Perala said.

The match was a must-win for the Colonels. With a loss, they have no chance of making the OVC Conference Tournament. Blake thought the Colonels’ must-win attitude made them better.

“They were giving it everything they had,” Blake said. “They came at us really strong and we couldn’t keep up.”

Despite their performance, Perala was happy with the win, stating that any win is a good win. In fact, with the win, Eastern clinched a spot in the OVC Tournament.

The Panthers weren’t lucky yesterday in their match against conference leader Morehead State (8-6-4, 5-0-3 OVC), as they lost in overtime 1-0.

“We played well the first 10 or 15 minutes of the first half and then really didn’t try and string things together until the last 10 or 15 minutes of regular time,” Perala said.

According to Perala, the team struggled with keeping up the intensity they started the game with, and they couldn’t build an attack.

Although they were defeated in shots, 12-5, Williams had another big day making seven saves and keeping her team in the game.

“Jenny (Williams) made a couple great saves and (sophomore defender) Sam Balek made a really nice tackle just inside of the box that potentially would’ve been a one-on-one with Jenny,” Perala said. “(Sophomore defenders) Elise Farrelly and Hillary Blake played well, too.”

Senior midfielder Laura Ridolfi said that despite the offense working hard, they didn’t get the offensive chances they were hoping for.

The Panthers gave up 11 corners-something Perala said really wore down the defense-but weren’t bit by them until the goal in overtime that came as a result of a corner kick.

The team returns home on Halloween for its final regular season match at noon against UT Martin.

Alex McNamee can be reached at 581-7944 or admcnamee@eiu.edu.