The Eastern women’s soccer team was shutout for the third time this season on Sunday, falling to Northern Illinois at Lakeside Field by a score of 1-0.

With the loss, the Panthers drop to 2-5, recording their second win of the season the previous Friday against Evansville.

The Panthers have just two more non-conference matches before opening up Ohio Valley Conference play.

With OVC play on the horizon, Eastern head coach Summer Perala said after Sunday’s game, there are a few things she would like to see the Panthers improve on.

“We definitely want to build on just combination in the attack, and create more opportunities on goal,” she said. “We don’t do really well with our shots on goal, so we’re hoping to change that in conference.”

The Panthers have scored on just seven of their 59 shot attempts this season, with senior Kristin Germann leading the way with 14 shots and six shots on goal. Germann also leads the team in goals with three, all of which came in the team’s first win of the season against Cleveland State.

As compared to the rest of the OVC, the Panthers are taking much fewer shots, ranked seventh out of 11 teams in shots taken.

Tennessee-Martin leads the way, taking 119 shots over seven matches played. The Skyhawks average 17 shots per match.

However, Eastern is among the top of the conference in saves, with red-shirt junior Jessica Taldone in goal.

The Panthers are ranked second behind Tennessee Tech with 46 saves this season. Tennessee Tech has a total of 50 saves over eight matches.

The number one goal scorer in the OVC is Tennessee Tech’s Ellie Iaciofano.

The freshman forward from Loveland, Ohio, has five goals in eight matches for the Golden Eagles.

Around the OVC

Belmont was blanked 3-0 by Middle Tennessee on Sunday, bringing the newest OVC team to an overall record of 4-3.

Southern Illinois-Edwardsville saw its first draw of the season come against Missouri State on Sunday.

The Cougars and the Bears played the full double overtime period with neither team able to score, ending in a 0-0 tie.

Despite taking 24 shots, Murray State fell 4-2 against in-state opponent Northern Kentucky on Sunday.

The Racers fell behind 2-0, but were able to tie the match, but lost after a goal from Northern Kentucky, followed by a Murray State own-goal in the 74th minute.

Eastern Kentucky took down the College of Charleston (South Carolina) by a score of 3-1 in the final match of the College of Charleston Cup.

Tennessee Tech lost to Western Carolina by a score of 1-0 on Sunday.

The match was tied at 0-0 until Western Carolina was able to score off a corner kick in the 77th minute.

Morehead State was shutout 2-0 by Xavier on Sunday. Morehead State is still searching for its first win of the season, currently at 0-6-1.

Jacksonville State added its OVC-best sixth win of the season with a 2-0 win over South Carolina State in the Gamecock/Adidas Soccer Classic on Sunday.

Tennessee-Martin cruised to a 5-1 victor over Lipscomb on Sunday, with four of its goals coming in the second half.

The Skyhawks are now 2-4-1 on the season.

Dominic Renzetti can be reached at 581-2812 or dcrenzetti@eiu.edu.