For the first time all season, and the first time in quite a while, the Eastern women’s soccer team finished its only match of the weekend in a draw.

The Panthers’ 1-1 draw against Wisconsin-Green Bay on Sunday at Lakeside Field is the first time the Panthers have had a draw since Oct. 19, 2012, against Morehead State on the road. The Panthers and Eagles tied 1-1 in the second to last weekend of Ohio Valley Conference play that season.

The Panthers’ last draw against a non-conference opponent was a 0-0 finish against Northern Illinois on Sept. 13, 2011. The Panthers had two draws in the 2011 season, both against non-conference teams, also tying IUPUI 2-2 on Sept. 2, 2011.

In Eastern’s first exhibition of the season, it played to a 1-1 draw against Loyola. Though a tie in an exhibition and a tie in a non-conference match may not seem to mean much, coming away with one point instead of none in the OVC portion of the schedule could change the course of the season for a team.

“In the game of soccer, you have to tie the game sometimes and last year we didn’t have any ties,” Eastern head coach Jason Cherry said before the start of the season. “If we could have got a few ties, maybe we’re sitting here with a conference championship.”

Of the Panthers’ five losses against OVC teams last season, including the first round of the tournament against Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, two of those losses were by just one goal.

For Cherry, it is the first tie in his career since becoming Eastern’s head coach.

Reed continues scoring streak 

Red-shirt junior Chris Reed netted the Panthers’ only goal in Sunday’s draw, bringing her scoring streak to four goals in the last four matches. Reed leads the team with eight total points with teammate Meagan Radloff in second with four points.

The last Eastern player to score at least four goals in the non-conference schedule was Kristin Germann, who had four goals during her 2011 junior season.

MacKinnon adds assist

Kathleen MacKinnon’s assist on Reed’s goal on Sunday makes her the first player not named Radloff to record an assist for the Panthers this season. It was Mackinnon’s first career assist and first career point since joining the Panthers last year.

Mackinnon, from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, dealt with both illness and injury last season, but so far this year has recorded at least one shot in each of the Panthers last five matches.

Around the OVC

Southern Illinois-Edwardsville recorded a 1-0 win over MAC opponent Northern Illinois on Sunday, while Morehead State picked up a 2-0 win over ACC-newcomer Louisville on Friday.

Freshman Caroline Hoefert of Southern Illinois-Edwardsville got her first goal of the season in just the 10th minute of the match and the Cougars were able to hold on for the 1-0 win on the road.

Morehead State, which had lost its last 11 meetings with Louisville, got on the board early with a goal from senior forward Jade Flory in the fifth minute. Flory, a transfer from Youngstown State, is already the No. 5 all-team leading scorer at Morehead State after only two seasons with the team. She leads the OVC with six goals so far this year. Senior forward Holly Tilley added the second goal at 61:35. Louisville had made two NCAA tournaments in the last three years.

Tennessee-Martin couldn’t pull an upset over Big 12 opponent Oklahoma State on Sunday, falling 1-0 after a goal in the 66th minute by Madison Mercado.

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