The Eastern women’s soccer team is coming off of a draw in Sunday’s matchup against Tennessee Tech.

The Panthers rallied from being a goal down to leave Cookeville, Tenn. with a draw.

The Panthers will round out the regular season this weekend when they welcome Tennessee-Martin and Murray State to Lakeside Field.

“They both are equally talented teams as us, and I’m sure both games will end with whoever wanted to win more,” junior defender Erika Prazma said.

The Panthers are entering the last weekend of conference play sitting in seventh place with a record of 2-2-2 in OVC action. The Panthers need wins to earn their spot in the Ohio Valley Conference tournament.

“Both UT Martin and Murray State will be solid,” head coach Summer Perala said. “Each game, although we will stress that the girls need to focus first and foremost on Friday’s match, will be vital for us to get a win and secure a post-season spot. Basically we need to score and win. A 1-1 tie will not help.”

The Skyhawks are 3-3 in the OVC and are sitting in sixth place. Friday’s matchup will be a crucial one for both teams, as they will battle for the sixth and final spot in the tournament.

To knock off the Skyhawks, the Panthers offensive attack will have to find the back of the net. The Panthers have been working on capitalizing on scoring opportunities in practice.

On the defensive side, the Panthers will have to maintain and control the offensive attack of the Skyhawks.

The defense is one of the best defensive cores in the conference.

“We’ve played better and better as a team over the course of the past few games,” Perala said. “It comes down to details. Taking care of the ball through the defensive and middle third and having our attacking players focused, confident and even a bit selfish around the goal to put away their scoring opportunities.”

The Panthers will round out their regular season on Sunday when they host Murray State at 1 p.m. for the season finale.

The Racers are 3-2-1 in the OVC and are sitting in third place.

“We just have to put up a good fight and finish our opportunities in order to compete,” Prazma said.

Senior forward Kaitlin Sullivan said she is both nervous and excited for the final weekend of regular season play.

“I realize nobody is going to hand us two wins without a fight, but we can handle any amount of adversity we’re faced with,” Sullivan said.

Sunday’s matchup will be Senior Day.

The Panthers will recognize seniors Sarah Rusk, Kaitlin Sullivan, Danielle Flynn and Kaylin Lorbert on Sunday, as they will play their final match at Lakeside Field.

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