Fresh off a pair of tough matches over the weekend, the Eastern women’s soccer team is continuing preparations for the upcoming conference schedule. 

They fell 3-0 to Milwaukee on Aug. 24 and 3-2 to Green Bay on Aug. 26.

Although Eastern is 0-2-1 on the season, there are reasons to be optimistic for the future. 

“The game on Friday we played a very good team,” said junior Sarah DeWolf, “and unfortunately we did not play up to our full potential.”

But Sunday was more successful for the Panthers, even though they lost the match. 

“The game on Sunday we came out very strong and had a great 45 minutes,” said DeWolf. “I was happy I was able to put two goals in for the team.”

The Panthers lead most of the game, but a late scoring barrage gave Green Bay a comeback win. 

“It was upsetting because we had a few mistakes and unlucky plays which gave them a chance to get back in the game,” said DeWolf. 

But the experience was positive for the Panthers, according to DeWolf, who is optimistic for the upcoming matches.

“We definitely grew from the game and will keep moving forward to next weekend,” she said

Eastern plays IUPUI on Friday, who is in the middle of a three-game losing streak, all on the road.

IUPUI won their opener 2-0 but have been outscored 8-1 during their skid. 

IUPUI has had a balanced offense so far with three players scoring goals and three different players registering assists. 

The next game for the Panthers will be on Sept. 2, when they travel to Chicago to play Chicago State. 

The Cougars are also 0-2-1 on the season. Unlike IUPUI, Chicago State’s scoring has been limited to a small number of players. 

Marissa Beale has scored two of their three goals with Aanika Stevens scoring the other. They only have one assist on the year, coming from Sara Quevedo. 

These two games are an opportunity for the Panthers to improve the aggressive style of play wanted by head coach Jake Plant. 

He has said that more repetitions and focus will improve the success of this approach, and time will tell if they will be running on all gears come conference play. 

The game on Friday will be at 1 p.m. at Lakeside field. 

The Panthers have not been winless through their first four games since the 2015 season. 

They will look to avoid doing it this season. 

Adam Tumino can be reached at 581-2812 or ajtumino@eiu.edu