Eastern dropped to 2-8-1 on the season, 0-2 within conference, following losses to Tennessee-Martin and Southeast Missouri over the weekend.

The Panthers lost by scores of 3-1 and 5-0, respectively, in their opening Ohio Valley Conference matchups.

In the game against Tennessee-Martin, Eastern surrendered a goal from inside the box during the 19th minute.

After, Eastern was clean defensively until the 55th minute as they allowed two more goals in a five-minute span. Eastern struggled to answer and could only manage one goal.

Eastern coach Jason Cherry stressed the importance of his team containing the Tennessee- Martin forwards, one of which still managed to get on the board twice.

In their game against Southeast Missouri, Eastern allowed two goals within the first six minutes and three additional scores as the game went on.

In the two games, Eastern was outshot 47-14, including just four against Southeast Missouri.

Defender Carrie Caplin was the lone Panther to get on the scoreboard. Her goal was her first of season and came in the second half against Tennessee-Martin.

Caplin’s goal was a positive, being that she is now the fourth different player to score for Eastern and is now up to three points on the year.

Despite a difficult weekend, Maddie Lyon recorded 14 saves and saved 64 percent of the shots she faced on goal. She has now made 73 saves with a save rate of 76 percent during her nine caps on the season.

Her numbers have her ranked first in the OVC in saves and saves per game.

The difficulty Eastern experienced attempting to score and defend may have been a result of the strengths of the competition.

Particularly, Southeast Missouri is allowing an average of just one goal per game and has almost doubled their opponents in total goals this season.

They have also been able to pick apart their opponents by out-shooting them 71-41.

Eastern forward Molly Hawkins was held scoreless during the two games. She is still tied for 18th in Division I and first within the OVC, having scored seven goals on the year.

Forward Hannah Miller was also held in check, but her three goals have her sitting at a tie for 10th within the conference.

With the two road losses, Eastern remains winless away from Lakeside Field at 0-6-1. They have been outscored 16-3 on the road so far this season, compared to being outscored just 11-9 at home.

Their two conference defeats put Eastern at 10th in OVC standings. They are currently ranked 4th in the conference with 12 goals to this point.

Eastern’s next games, both within the OVC, will be at Belmont on Friday and on Sunday they will host Jacksonville state.

Elias Albert can be reached at 581-2812 or at ewalbert@eiu.edu