The Eastern men’s soccer team allowed just three shots on goal against Evansville Sunday on the road, but two of those shots were able to find the back of the net, as the Panthers lost their second game in a row 2-0.

The two teams finished with very similar looks on the stat sheet, but subtle differences on the field, including influence from Evansville midfielder Ian McGrath, made enough difference in the game.

“They had an experienced midfielder and one of the most pedigreed players in the region that got his head on everything and in moments it turned the game in favor of them,” coach Kiki Lara said. “They took their three good looks and converted two goals. We did not convert from four good looks on goal. Slight differences, but critical ones. In the end, we saw a lot from us that we can sustain for the conference time period.”

Evansville got its first goal of the game from Adam Snow, who shot from inside the box in the 17th minute of action. Snow is now second in goals on the season for the Aces with four.

The Aces would push the score to 2-0 in the 58th minute when Brian Hughes scored from the corner, assisted of a header by Ian McGrath and another pass from teammate Lacey Stafford.

The Aces put up 10 shots total in the game with seven different players each registering one. Chris Shuck led the team with three shots.

Eastern had three shots on goal of its own in the game, however, all three turned into saves for Evansville, two of which going to goalkeeper Frederik Reimer.

Eastern’s first shot of the game came from Kris Luke in the 26th minute of the game.

The next save for Remier came in the 42nd minute off a shot by Brendan McDonough.

Eastern tallied seven shots total in the game, Alessandro Corti and Christian Sosnowski led the team with two a piece in the game.

The third and final save was a team save for Evansville off of a shot by Cole Harkrader in the 86th minute of the game.

While Eastern was unable to convert a goal today, Lara felt the offense played better today than in past games.

“We created four to five good looks to goal and just didn’t covert,” Lara said. “We earned opportunity and needed to take them better is all.”

Panther goalkeeper Mike Novotny registered his lowest save total and save percentage in a game this season. Novotny still leads the country in saves per game with 7.57 and is sixth in the NCAA with a .900 save percentage.

The loss for the Panthers puts the Panthers as a .500 team on the season, making their record 2-2-4.

For the Aces, the win improved its record to 5-2 overall.

The Panthers will return home for their next game against Wright State Tuesday at Lakeside Field.

JJ Bullock can be reached at 581-2812 or jpbullock@eiu.edu