The Eastern women’s soccer team opened its Ohio Valley Conference schedule with a loss, falling 1-0 to Southern Illinois-Edwardsville on Sunday in Edwardsville.

The Cougars found the back of the net early, with junior forward Erin DiGiovanni scoring just 1:51 into the match off a corner kick from freshman midfielder Cassidy Sherman. The goal was DiGiovanni’s first goal of the season.

The 1-0 loss marks the fourth straight match in which the Panthers have been shut-out. The team’s last goal came on Sept. 7 in the 2-1 win at Evansville.

The Panthers outshot Southern Illinois-Edwardsville 7-5 in the first half, but were then outshot 13-4 in the second half.

Sophomore Allie Lakie led the Panthers in shots with three, one of which was on goal. Senior Kristin Germann had two shots on goal, but it wasn’t enough, as the Panthers fall to 2-8 this season.

Red-shirt junior Jessica Taldone was again in goal for the Panthers. Taldone made six saves in the contest.

The Panthers are now 0-4-1 all-time against the Cougars, having never beaten their in-state rivals. Eastern head coach Summer Perala said the match between the two teams is always important because of the rivalry.

“SIUE, in my opinion, will always be a main rival simply because we are in the same state and go after the same top players,” she said.

The Panthers will continue conference play at 7 p.m. Friday against Jacksonville State in Jacksonville, Ala.

Around the OVC

Eastern Kentucky junior forward Nikki Donnelly scored twice in the final minutes of the Colonel’s conference opener against Morehead State, giving them a 2-1 win in Richmond, Ky.

After being down two goals, Donnelly scored with two minutes left in regulation, sending the match into overtime.

Then, six minutes into overtime, Donnelly scored off an assist from freshman midfielder Mikala Ferguson. The goal was Donnelly’s fifth of the season, making her the all-time leading scorer in Eastern Kentucky history with 13 career goals.

Jacksonville State improved to 8-2-1 with a 2-1 win over Tennessee Tech in Sunday’s conference opener in Cookeville, Tenn.

Sophomore midfielder Jackie Rush scored both goals for the Gamecocks. Tennessee Tech drops to 2-6-1 with the loss.

Murray State won its first OVC match-up against Austin Peay on Sunday in Clarksville, Tenn., by a score of 1-0. Senior defender Veronika Pribyslavska scored the match’s only goal on an unassisted goal in the 69th minute.

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