The Eastern women’s soccer team has already secured a spot in the postseason Ohio Valley Conference tournament, but it has not yet been decided just what seed the Panthers will have going into the Nov. 7 tournament.

The Panthers take on in-state rival Southern Illinois-Edwardsville at 2 p.m. Sunday at Lakeside Field in what will be the final regular season match.

Eastern has 18 points in the OVC standings, tied for third with Morehead State. If Eastern and Morehead State both get wins this weekend, giving each team 21 points, the Panthers will be the No. 3 seed in the tournament because of the head-to-head win over the Eagles on Oct. 4. 

Morehead State plays Eastern Kentucky Friday at 5 p.m. in Morehead, Ky.

The first and second place teams, Tennessee-Martin and Southeast Missouri, are fighting to see who will host the tournament, and more importantly, earn the No. 1 seed. Tennessee-Martin has 21 points, while Southeast Missouri has 20. The two will face off Friday at 7 p.m. in Martin, Tenn. 

If  Tennessee-Martin wins or ties, it will have the No. 1 seed. Even if Eastern finds itself tied with either team for second place the Panthers would not get the No. 2 seed because they lost to both teams in head-to-head match-ups.

To have any chance of getting a No. 2 seed, Eastern will first need to win on Sunday. The Panthers have lost each of their last two matches, scoring no goals in either and giving up six in the two combined. Edwardsville, on the other hand, is coming off a 1-0 win over Tennessee-Martin.

Freshman Kayla Delgado leads Edwardsville with eight goals this season. Sophomore goalkeeper Jennifer Pelley has started every match in goal for the Cougars, giving up 12 goals and making 67 saves this season.

With 16 points in the conference standings, Edwardsville is looking to be one of the last teams in the tournament. The Cougars are currently tied with Austin Peay, which they beat earlier in the season. 

Austin Peay takes on Murray State, which just snapped a four-match losing streak, on the road on Sunday. If both Edwardsville and Austin Peay win, it would likely seal the tournament teams.

Belmont and Eastern Kentucky are both fighting for a spot in the tournament as well with 13 points, underneath Edwardsville and Austin Peay in the standings. Both teams would need to win and have a number of other teams lose in order to have a shot at making the tournament.

The OVC tournament will be hosted by the No. 1 seed team. The winner will automatically qualify for the NCAA tournament. Tennessee-Martin has won the OVC tournament the last two years.

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