Eastern’s men’s soccer team will travel to Chicago to take on Loyola in a non-conference match at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

The Panthers are 4-5-1 against Loyola, while head coach Adam Howarth is 2-1-1 against the Ramblers.

Eastern is coming off a 2-1 Summit League win over Oral Roberts and enters the game with an even .500 record at 5-5-1.

“Although it was not our best game,” Howarth said regarding the performance against Oral Roberts. “We (got) a win and kept (ourselves) in contention in the league standings.”

Loyola on the other hand, enters the match with a 2-8-1 record. The Ramblers are also coming off a 4-0 loss to Cleveland State.

Howarth said the team enters night matches like it would any other match; the only difference is there is more down time before the game actually starts. There are no added challenges.

This year Eastern is 1-2-0 in matches that start after 5 p.m. Last season the Panthers had a record of 0-6 in matches that started after 5 p.m.

Offensively, Loyola is led by Brian Bement. Bement has three goals in 11 matches, and he leads the team in goals, points and shots. Eric Nock has scored one goal and dished out one assist this season. Nock is second in points and shots early this season.

Defensively, the Ramblers have given up 23 goals and scored just nine. Goalkeeper Peter McKeown has allowed 15 goals in eight matches and has made 36 saves.

Howarth said non-conference matches are great at this time of the season.

“(Non-conference matches) keep us focused and give players a chance to stay sharp,” Howarth said.

The last time these two teams met was in 2007. The match ended in a 2-2 tie in Chicago.

The Panthers are led offensively by freshman midfielder Jake Brillhart, who has three goals and two assists this season.

Freshman midfielder Will Butler follows Brillhart in points by one as he has two goals and three assist in his freshman campaign.

Defensively, Eastern has allowed 18 goals this season, while scoring 14. Sophomore goalkeeper Tyler Kelley should get the start as he is coming off his first his second win of the season against Oral Roberts. Kelley has allowed seven goals in six games and has made 15 saves.

Howarth said these non-conference matches allow the Panthers to use their full team as needed.

Rob Mortell can be reached at 581-7944 or at rdmortell@eiu.edu.