The Eastern women’s soccer team returned home from its final road game of the season with a tie against the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles.

Going into the weekend the Golden Eagles had a record of 0-4, and I was expecting nothing but a win from head coach Summer Perala’s squad.

The Panthers may have shot themselves in the foot Sunday by managing just a tie with a team that they should have beaten.

The Panthers will now be in a do-or-die situation when they welcome Tennessee-Martin and Murray State to Charleston this weekend for the final two games of the regular season.

The Panthers are 2-2-2 in the Ohio Valley Conference, and are on the outside looking in on the OVC tournament.

With six teams qualifying for the postseason tournament, the Panthers find themselves sitting in seventh place.

UT Martin and Murray State both boast records of .500 or above and will give the Panthers a stiff test this weekend.

The Panthers hold their own fate and will need to register nothing but victories in their final two games of the season if they plan on participating in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament.

The Panthers offensive attack did manage to outshoot the Golden Eagles, and did rally from a goal down to leave Cookeville, Tenn. with a tie.

The draw showed the mental toughness of Perala’s squad to dig themselves out of an early deficit.

Although they did battle from a goal down, the draw was not what the Panthers had in mind, but they must now rely on the strong defensive core to control the offensive attacks of their opponents this weekend.

The offensive attack must score goals this weekend, because a draw will certainly keep the Panthers out of the postseason tournament.

The Panthers defensive core will undoubtedly show up to play and will hopefully keep the opponents offensive attack off the scoreboard.

The defense has been a bright spot for Perala’s squad and they have shown up to play in every game this season.

The Panther defense is second only to Austin Peay in goals against with an average of 0.68 goals allowed a game. The Panther defense must be in top form this weekend to get the desired results.

Senior forward Kaitlin Sullivan and junior forward Kristin Germann must deliver great performances this weekend to propel the Panthers into the OVC tournament.

Germann is the team’s leading scorer this season, and Sullivan is fresh off a boost of confidence from her lone Panther goal against the Golden Eagles on Sunday.

The offensive struggles have been well documented, but returning to the familiarities of Lakeside Field should help the Panthers register a pair of victories this weekend.

I look for senior goalkeeper Kaylin Lorbert and senior forward Kaitlin Sullivan to leave everything on the field this weekend in hopes of prolonging their Panther careers.

Jordan Pottorff can be reached

at 581-7944 or jbpottorff@eiu.edu