Sophomore Hannah Miller scored in the 71st minute of Sunday’s 2-1 loss at Valparaiso, making it the team’s first goal since the Aug. 23 season opener against Oakland.

The Panthers had been shutout in seven straight games. Junior Meagan Radloff was credited with the assist.

Valparaiso (6-3-1) opened the match with a goal from sophomore midfielder Jenny Fassbinder in the 12th minute. Senior Lauren Gagnon had the assist. The Crusaders got their second goal in the 43rd minute from Downers Grove native Sarrah Ludwig. Junior Kristen Warner had the assist.

Sophomore Emily Hinton started for Eastern, making four saves. Senior Kristen Manski recorded the win for Valparaiso, also making four saves.

The Panthers also fell on Friday to Drake, losing 3-0 on a rainy Lakeside Field. It was Drake’s first win of the season.

The Bulldogs opened with two first half goals from junior forward Ashlie Stokes in the 34th and 38th minute. Sophomore defender Kylie DeHaven assisted on Stokes’ second goal.

Freshman Kayla Armstrong would add the third goal in the match’s closing minutes.

“It’s just another learning experience,” interim head coach Jason Cherry said following Friday’s loss. “I think we played well against them. Hats off to Drake; they’re a well-coached team, and they came out and worked.”

The match saw four yellow cards, with Radloff and Molly Hawkins receiving cards for Eastern and Rhian Pritchard and Sarah Nicholson for Drake.

Cherry said the match was very physical.

“We kind of got caught up into it a little bit,” he said. “We’ve just got to clean up some mistakes and capitalize on the opportunities that we have.”

Sophomore Cortney Jerzy, who had played in goal for the Panthers at times this season, played in the field against Drake.

“She’s a great person to coach because she’ll do whatever you ask,” Cherry said. “We put her on the field this week in practice, and she did really well. I wanted to give her a go before conference goes and see if she could do it.”

Red-shirt freshman Kylie Morgan started in goal for the Panthers, making five saves. Junior goalkeeper Andrea Swanson started for Drake, making two saves in the win.

Cherry said he will use Morgan in the next upcoming matches to give the team more continuity in the position.

Eastern will open Ohio Valley Conference play on Friday against Belmont in Nashville, Tenn., then at noon Sunday against Tennessee Tech at Lakeside Field.

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