The Eastern men’s soccer team will host its third home game Sunday against Missouri-Kansas City.

Kansas City is coming into the match with a 2-4-2 record, having won its last game against Fort Wayne, 2-1.

This season, Kansas City is winless on the road, coming up with three losses and two ties in five games.

Last weekend, Eastern played Indiana-Purdue-Indianapolis and its top goalkeeper, Eduardo Cortes. Cortes and IUPUI held the Panthers to one goal. Cortes was named defensive player of the week in the Summit League.

Against Kansas City, Eastern will be up against another top Summit League goalkeeper.

Kevin Corby leads the Summit League in goal against (3), goal against average (0.91) and save percentage (85 percent). He’s made 17 saves in four games this season.

Eastern enters the game looking to change the trend of always having to come from behind in games.

The Panthers have two wins this season, but have been forced to try to come from behind in all of their losses except one.

The Panthers scored the opening goal against Dayton earlier this season, but gave up four consecutive in a 4-1 loss to the Flyers.

Three goal scorers, all of which lead the team with two goals apiece, lead Eastern.

Red-shirt sophomore midfielder Chris Boswell, senior defender Jordan Collins and sophomore forward Tayron Martin have all scored two goals this season.

Kansas City’s offense averages 0.8 goals per game, while Eastern is scoring 1.1 goals per game – third in the Summit League.

Eastern’s defense is giving up 1.96 goals per game, while Kansas City is giving up 1.71 goals per game.

Around the Summit League

There were three Summit League games Tuesday, including Indiana-Purdue-Indianapolis back in action after defeating Eastern last Saturday.

IUPUI played Western Michigan to a 1-1 tie, while Western Illinois lost to Northern Kentucky, 1-0.

Fort Wayne was looking for its first win against Kentucky Tuesday, but lost 5-1.

IUPUI, Oakland and Kansas City are in a three-way tie for first place in the Summit League with 1-0 records. IUPUI has a 4-6-2 overall record and has played two more games than any other Summit League team this season.

The Jaguars are in the points lead in the conference with 14 points, having played more games than anyone else.

Oakland has the best overall record at 4-3, while Kansas City is 2-4-2 so far this season.

Oakland has scored four more goals than any other team this season. Oakland’s 17 goals give it a plus-five advantage in goals against opponents, 17-12.

No other Summit League has a positive goal differential average this season, although Omaha is even at 12-12.

Alex McNamee can be reached at 581-2812 or admcnamee@eiu.edu.