The Eastern women’s soccer team opened its Ohio Valley Conference schedule at home this weekend and came out with a pair of 2-0 wins at Lakeside Field.

The Panthers played the first game against Tennessee Tech Friday.

They blanked the Golden Eagles, as the scoring started in the 33rd minute by sophomore defender Brenna Vogel as she launched a shot from 25 yards out and into the net.

The other Panther goal was scored by senior midfielder Ashley Eck in the 59th minute as she buried a shot from the right side with assists from junior forward Kristin Germann and freshman forward Jade Schwarting.

Goalkeeper Brittany O’Dell made sure the Golden Eagles stayed scoreless.

She made three saves in her first win of the season. She previously had one loss.

Sunday’s game with Jacksonville State came after a rainy Saturday, which made for treacherous footing for the team early on. As the match continued, both teams seemed to gain better footing.

“The grass is (also) really long,” Perala said. “That definitely makes the footing a little bit harder to handle.”

The passing game started out strong, but faded through the first half.

After halftime, the Panthers recovered and were able to go on the attack for the majority of the second half.

“We told them (Sunday) was going to be a little more taxing because of the physical game they had on Friday,” said Perala. “When it started breaking down, we started losing possession a lot more, but once we started clicking it worked out.”

Sunday’s first Panther goal was scored just after halftime in the 47th minute by freshman Brooke Sill when junior forward Jessie Morgan drew Jacksonville States’s keeper out.

She passed across the box to Sill for the put-away.

The second goal, netted in the 78th minute, was credited as an own goal against the Gamecocks, but Perala noted that it was a result of her team applying pressure on the offensive end.

Red-shirt sophomore Jessica Taldone played all 90 minutes in goal for the Panthers on Sunday, and made one save in the game.

She earned her second win of the year.

The Panthers will hit the road next weekend.

They travel to Southeast Missouri for a 6:30 Friday contest before playing at UT-Martin Sunday with kickoff set for noon.

Their next action at Lakeside Field will be Oct. 14 and 16 as they will be idle on family weekend.

Brad Kupiec can be reached

at 581-7942

bmkupiec@eiu.edu.