With three matches left in the season, the men’s soccer team is fighting for their lives.

Eastern is currently in fifth place in the conference, with the top four teams making it to the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.

Eastern has seven points in the conference season, five points behind Drake and six points behind Evansville.

The Panthers three remaining matches are against Bradley in Peoria followed by Missouri State and Drake at home.

“The next few games are our season, that’s what it comes down to,” sophomore forward Ryan Child said. “Whatever way you look at it, Bradley is a must win game, especially since everyone has just been taking points off of each other this year.”

Eastern is at a disadvantage because Drake has four matches remaining, but following Eastern’s 0-0 tie against Creighton Saturday, Eastern coach Adam Howarth said Eastern is right where it needs to be in the thick of the race.

The Panthers have advanced to the MVC Tournament the last four seasons.

Eastern solid at home

The round robin schedule in the MVC has adopted this season has been huge for the Panthers so far this season.

Eastern is 3-2-1 at home this season and 1-1-1 in conference with a win against Bradley and a tie against Creighton.

Eastern had previously lost to the Bluejays 5-1 on the road.

The Panthers came back to tie them at Lakeside Field.

The Panthers are hoping for the same luck against Drake, a team the Panthers lost to 3-0 on the road Oct. 21, in Des Moines, Iowa.

“Even though we lost 3-0, I have never seen a team posses the ball better than we did in that game,” Child said. “At times, we looked really good; we just didn’t put our chances away.”

He said he is certain Eastern can be more competitive at home and they can beat the Bulldogs at Lakeside Field.

Child said he is not sure what the difference has been at home so far this season.

He does not know because he said the Panthers have also gotten great support on the road.

Lakeside torn apart

Howarth said after the match, the conditions at Lakeside Field might have been a bit of an equalizer.

After a steady rain the night before the match, the field was torn up during the double overtime affair.

The south end of the field was particularly in shambles with a huge mud spot in the center of the box that thwarted at least one Creighton shot attempt.

Child said that was one of the worst field conditions he has ever played on, but the field last year at Drake was worse.

After the match, Harrison admitted the conditions were poor, but said the Panthers worked hard to play through it.

Eastern junior goalkeeper Sean Molony said with a field in such rough shape, the team just had to be smart.

“Instead of making the most glorious save, you just try to get the ball away,” Molony said. “If it goes out for a throw- it goes out for a throw. If it goes out for a corner- it goes out for a corner. So you just have to be smart with everything that you do and make sure you get the job done.”

Everyone getting involved

In the match against Asbury (Ky.) Monday, everyone on Eastern’s roster except for Molony and senior defender Nick Bonaker played during the match.

Howarth said he gave the two a rest for precautionary reasons.

In the match, a number of young players contributed.

Red-shirt freshman forwards Ian McCausland, Grey Genenbacher and Austin Andrekus scored their first goals of their career.

“It was good that everybody was able to play today,” Howarth said. “That was our plan coming into the game and they played well. We had a number of really good performances today.”

Child said one of the strengths of the team is its depth, which should help them down the stretch.

So far, all 23 players on the roster have played in a match this season.

Around the league

Entering the final stretch of the MVC season, Missouri State is in the lead with 16 points with a 5-1-1 record.

Creighton is one point behind with 15 points with a 4-2-3 record. Evansville (4-3-1), Drake (4-2-0), Eastern (2-4-1) and Bradley (0-7) follow.

On Oct. 21, the Braves lost 3-0 to the Bears this weekend in Springfield, Miss., while Evansville defeated Drake 1-0 on the Fox Soccer Channel.

This week Creighton plays a huge non-conference match Saturday when they travel to UCLA to take on the Bruins, who are ranked No. 4 in the country by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

Missouri State junior forward Paul Paradise was named MVC Offensive Player of the Week after scoring two goals Saturday in a win against Bradley.

Creighton defender Chris Schuler was named Defensive Player of the Week after the Bluejays posted two shutouts, one against Bradley Wednesday and against Eastern Sunday.

Molony was named honorable mention for the Defensive Player of the Week award.

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

Sophomore midfielder Mike Picinich tries to out run Ashbury sophomore defender Sam Miller during the game against Ashbury College (Ky.) Monday afternoon at Lakeside Field. The Panthers won 4-0.(Amir Prellberg/The Daily Eastern News)

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