Eastern senior goalkeeper Evan Turner made seven saves against Belmont on Tuesday to keep his Panthers close in a lopsided possession game, but the Panthers couldn’t finish chances of their own.

Tied 1-1 late in the game, the Panthers had multiple chances to get passed the goalkeeper, but Belmont’s Lou Manning made fingertip saves to keep the game tied.

The chances, initiated by sophomore midfielder Jake Irwin’s long throw-ins toward the goal, were merely inches away from slipping past Manning.

Eastern head coach Adam Howarth said he told his team after the game that they lost because they didn’t put away their chances, compiling just four shots on goal.

“If we put those chances away, (Belmont) isn’t coming back from it,” Howarth said.

But the Bruins did enough to come out of the day with the win against Eastern in a non-conference matchup.

Belmont’s Raphael Colmanette scored his third goal of the season at the 66-minute mark in the second half after a long shot by Luca Schioppa got passed Turner’s reaching hand.

Schioppa’s shot ricocheted off the post, almost directly downward, and Colmanette ran in to clean up the rebound by nudging the ball into the goal with his chest.

Ten minutes later, Eastern got on the board after a cross from freshman midfielder Anthony DiNuzzo soared over the head of a leaping Belmont defender and to the feet of red-shirt freshman forward Garet Christianson, who scored the goal.

DiNuzzo’s cross was helped by the wind in the air, which gusted at about 36 mph throughout the game.

The Panthers played with the wind in the second half, which Howarth said played an important role in the game.

The wind was such a factor in the game that Howarth said the coin toss going into overtime was a toss to decide who might win the game.

“Whoever won (the coin toss) was probably going to win the game,” Howarth said.

And they did — Belmont winning the toss and scoring three minutes into the overtime period.

Turner said not having the wind in the Panthers’ favor made it hard to keep the ball out of their own zone.

“Having it at your back is such an advantage and is easier to keep the ball in their half,” Turner said.

Schioppa took a shot three minutes into overtime that was a laser, flying past Turner’s left side.

Turner said the Panthers’ defense might have been a little fatigued, allowing Schioppa to have somewhat of an open shot at the goal.

The Panthers end their season at 7 p.m. on Saturday against Oakland.

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