Just four minutes into match, the Eastern men’s soccer team saw themselves jump ahead 1-0 against Indiana-Purdue University Indianapolis.

The match was originally scheduled to be played at Lakeside field, but was switched to IUPUI due to weather implications in Charleston.

Sophomore Cole Harkrader scored his first goal of the season, which was assisted by Edgar Mesa from 20 yards out.

For a while, Eastern had the lead until the 63:19 mark when Uriel Macias scored his third goal of the season, tying the match at 1-1.

This was the first tie by Eastern since Sept. 23 against Omaha.

For the Panthers, that was their sixth draw this season, giving them a 3-7-6 overall record, but for IUPUI they still are in search of its first win of the season with three game remaining of its schedule as it sits at 0-12-2.

The Panthers had 13 shots in the game with four on goal.

IUPUI outshot Eastern, putting up 20 shots in the match, with five of them on goal.

Harkrader, who had the lone goal for Eastern, had three shots on goal in the match, while redshirt senior Fabio Callado and freshman Shady Omar both had two shots a piece for the Panthers.

Senior Ben Stone made his first start this season in the net for Eastern, replacing senior goalkeeper Mike Novotny, who was serving his suspension, and collected four saves in the match, with two of them coming in the second overtime.

Stone played earlier this season against Belmont after Novotny was ejected half way through the match have receiving a foul in the box.

Sophomore Christian Sosnowski, who had one shot in the match, said he is excited to see if his team can make a run into the playoffs

“Our offense coming together is huge for us,” he said. “I feel like we’re playing our best soccer right now which is great.”

Vince Lovergine can be reached at 581-2812 or vplovergine@eiu.edu