The Eastern women’s soccer team lost its first game of the season Sunday, two days after winning its home opener, and the team’s offense in both games was working hard to find the back of the net.

Although Eastern’s opponent Friday, the Green Bay Phoenix, outshot the Panthers, Eastern came away with the 1-0 victory, keeping its undefeated streak alive.

Throughout the game, especially in the first half, Eastern was constantly applying pressure to the Phoenix defense, with no goal to show for going into halftime.

“It adds an element of pressure on the opponent,” assistant coach Jake Plant said, adding that the amount of chances the team got was important in that regard. “Yes we would like them to go in the net, but if we are constantly trying to break them down, constantly trying to get shots on net, there’s an element of pressure that adds to the game of soccer where we control the whole game.”

Plant added that the team definitely wants to get more dangerous on goal, but once the team starts getting into a rhythm later in the season they will do great.

The Panthers’ lone goal came in dramatic fashion, being headed in by sophomore Sarah DeWolf off a cross from freshman Niondina Nystrom with one minute and one second left in regulation.

“It’s always nice to get one. That’s all you need in the game of soccer, you only need one, and it doesn’t matter when it comes,” Plant said, adding that it was a relief to get the goal.

The goal was DeWolf’s second on the season, her first coming in the Panthers’ 2-0 victory against IUPUI, also the team’s first goal of the season. Nystrom’s assist in Friday’s game was her first on the season.

Sunday’s match against Milwaukee was the same story for the Panther offense: the chances were there, not as many as Friday’s match, but the ball could not find the back of the net for Eastern.

“You’ve got to give credit to the way Milwaukee defended. They defended a little deeper, and they made it very difficult for us to bring it down,” Plant said.

At times, some of Eastern’s passes in the offensive third of the field were a bit too far ahead of another teammate, or the passes were taken by the Milwaukee defense.

“It’s nothing too major, it’s just the rhythm of the girls,” Plant said. “It can be a matter of just playing more and more minutes together, that will come in time.”

On the defensive side of the ball, Plant said the team did well in both games over the weekend.

Plant told his team that they played well defensively in Sunday’s loss, but they were just beaten in those two moments when Milwaukee scored their goals.

Milwaukee scored both of its goals in the first half. Forward Aubrey Krahn one-touched the ball into the goal from a cross eight minutes into the match, and forward Mackenzie Schill headed the ball in after a scramble for the ball in front of the net, 30 minutes into the first half.

Eastern’s record is now 2-1-1, its undefeated streak ending after the 2-0 loss Sunday to Milwaukee. The Panthers will travel to Valparaiso Friday for a 6:30 p.m. match against the Crusaders, and Sunday Eastern will host the Chicago State Cougars for a 1 p.m. matchup at Lakeside Field.

Dillan Schorfheide can be reached at 581-2812 or dtschorfheide@eiu.edu