After two weeks of Ohio Valley Conference play, the Eastern women’s soccer team remains in sole possession of first place in the standings.

The Panthers won two matches on Friday and Sunday following late goals in each game from junior Meagan Radloff. Radloff’s goals would be the game-winners in both games, giving the Panthers two 1-0 victories over Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky. The Panthers are now 4-0 in the OVC for the first time since 2000, when the team started 5-0.

The Panthers will meet the second place team in the OVC, Austin Peay, on Friday in Clarksville, Tenn. The Governors came back on Sunday to score three unanswered goals to beat Belmont and improve to 3-0-1 in Nashville, Tenn. Austin Peay’s Tatiana Ariza scored three goals in the team’s Friday 5-0 win over Tennessee Tech.

Ariza is now 12 goals behind Eastern’s Beth Liesen (2000-03) for most goals in OVC history. Ariza has 50 goals in her career.

Southeast Missouri is third at 2-0-1 following a 2-0 shutout over Jacksonville State Sunday in Cape Girardeau, Mo. The Redhawks’ Erin Shulman, who missed most of last season with an injury, scored both goals in the win.

Tennessee-Martin and Morehead State are both 2-1. Tennessee-Martin added a win on Friday, beating Jacksonville State 3-1 in Martin, Tenn., while Morehead State bounced back from Friday’s loss against Eastern with a 1-0 win on Sunday over Southern Illinois-Edwardsville.

Southern Illinois-Edwardsville and Belmont are both 1-2-1. Both teams picked up their first conference wins on Friday. The Cougars beat Eastern Kentucky 2-1 in Edwardsville, while Belmont edged Murray State 3-2 in Nashville, Tenn.

Eastern Kentucky is 1-2 following its Sunday loss to Eastern. The Colonels have yet to win a match this season at home and will host Southeast Missouri on Friday and Tennessee-Martin on Sunday.

Murray State and Tennessee Tech are both 1-3. Murray State got its first win on Sunday over the Golden Eagles, winning 3-1 in Cookeville, Tenn.

Jacksonville State is 0-4 and the only OVC team still without a win.

Deacon returns to action

Eastern sophomore Karlee Deacon saw limited action in the weekend’s matches against Morehead State and Eastern Kentucky, but it was Deacon’s first playing time since Sept. 15 against Loyola. Deacon had been out with an injury, which caused her to miss four matches.

Deacon played 13 minutes against Morehead State and 18 minutes against Eastern Kentucky. Eastern interim head coach Jason Cherry said he is working her back into the lineup.

“She’s coming off an injury, she’s been hurt the last two weeks,” he said. “I didn’t want to give her too much time, just kind of give her a taste of it and then we’re going to slowly bring her back in.”

Deacon, from Kitchener, Ontario, Canada, played in 19 matches and made 11 starts last season. She had one shot on goal this season against Northern Illinois.

Red-shirt freshman goalkeeper Kylie Morgan has not played since the team’s Sept. 20 loss against Drake with a hand injury. Morgan has played in five games this season.

Red-shirt freshman defender Paige DeThorne did not play in either match this weekend after suffering a knee injury against Tennessee Tech on Sept. 29. DeThorne did not play last season and was granted a medical red-shirt. Freshman forward Gabby Charles has not played since her leg injury on Sept. 15 against Loyola.

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