The Eastern women’s soccer team is coming off of its first road win in its last nine games dating back to last season.

The Panthers are using the gained momentum from the road victory over Jacksonville State on Sunday to end their current six-game road trip on a high note.

“We’re riding on a bit of confidence from this past weekend’s win against Jacksonville State,” head coach Summer Perala said.

The Panthers will face the Southern Illinois-Edwardsville Cougars on Friday, and will end their six-game stretch away from Lakeside Field on Sunday against the Southeast Missouri Redhawks.

The Panthers are entering the second weekend of Ohio Valley Conference action with an overall record of 4-6-2, and a 1-1 record in conference play.

“We are away again on Friday and Sunday, and I think that last Sunday’s win is going to give us great momentum for our team going into the game on Friday,” sophomore midfielder Jessie Morgan said.

Morgan became the second Panther to score her first career goal this season.

Perala said she expects Friday’s game against SIU-E will be exciting. She said she expects a big crowd.

“They are doing their Kicks for Cancer promotion,” Perala said. “Our team also has quite a few players from that area, so we will have a good fan following away from home.”

Since the Cougars are newcomers to the OVC this game will not affect the Panthers record in conference play.

“Although we never look past a game, we also have to be mindful that Sunday’s game at Southeast Missouri weighs more in our overall goal of OVC tournament seeding,” Perala said.

Perala said they will look to shuffle players around Friday to save energy. She said she wants to save players’ energy because she expects a tough battle.

The Panthers will end their road trip in Cape Girardeau, Mo., as they will battle against the SEMO.

The Panthers’ offensive attack broke out of its scoring slump last weekend putting up two goals against Jacksonville State, and will need to continue the scoring display this weekend against SIU-E and Southeast Missouri.

“The team is looking to continue the success they found around the box and finish more of the chances we create,” Perala said.

The Panthers are confident going into the weekend matches, and feel like they will put together a full 90 minutes in both games this weekend.

“I think we have a chance at the conference title this year,” senior midfielder Sarah Rusk said. “There aren’t any standouts in conference so it should be an interesting year.”

Friday’s game against SIU-E is set for 7 p.m. in Edwardsville. Sunday’s game against SEMO is set for 2 p.m. in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

Jordan Pottorff can be reached at 581-7944 or jbpottorff@eiu.edu.

Senior midfielder Sarah Rusk trys to get the ball away from Belmont’s sophomore midfielder Laura Harris Sept. 10 on Lakeside Field. (Audrey Sawyer

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