Panthers still seeking first win

All of the Summit League teams were in action Saturday, including the Eastern men’s soccer team that lost, 2-1, against Oral Roberts.

In the loss to Oral Roberts, Eastern was led by freshman midfielder Nick Smith as he recorded his first goal of the season in the final minute of the regulation on an assist from sophomore Jake Irwin. Unfortunately, Oral Roberts scored in the opening minutes of the first overtime period to secure the win.

Also on Saturday, Indiana-Purdue-Indianapolis beat Western Illinois to improve to a winning record in the Summit League.

IUPUI scored three goals, including two off the foot of Ryan Robinson.

On both of Robinson’s goals, Alejandro Martignon picked up the assist.

IUPUI’s Emile Garcia scored the other goal for the team.

Kansas City improved to 4-1 in the Summit League with an overtime win over Omaha.

Jordan Rideout and David Sarabia scored the goals for Kansas City.

Fort Wayne upset Oakland to win its second consecutive Summit League game.

Fort Wayne won, 2-1, on goals by Jose Rodriguez and Austin West.

Kansas City and Oakland lead the league with 4-1 records in conference, while IUPUI trails with a 3-2 record.

Eastern is in last place with a 0-5 record, and losses to Western Illinois and Oral Roberts aren’t helping them get back into the thick of things.

Eastern still has two conference games against Fort Wayne and Oakland to try to get their first conference win.

The Panthers also have a non-conference game against Belmont.

The Panthers are 190th out of 201 teams in NCAA Division I rankings in goals against average, giving up 2.28 goals per game.

Eastern is also 198th in Division I in winning percentage this season with a 2-12 record.

Also, the Panthers are 165th in goals per game, scoring 0.92 each game.

Eastern’s upcoming games are Saturday and Tuesday at home. The games will be the last two of the season at Lakeside Field for the Panthers.

The Panthers play Fort Wayne at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Lakeside Field.

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