Eastern suffered a 2-0 loss on Tuesday to SIUE in their make-up match against the Cougars. With one match left to go in the regular season, the Panthers will look to pick up a few more valuable points heading into the OVC tournament.

Eastern’s defense was able to slow SIUE down more than they did in their previous match against the team. 

In the last meeting, Eastern conceded two goals in the first half before the rest of the match was postponed. However, Eastern’s defense limited SIUE to scoring just one goal per half on Tuesday.

Esatern’s offense was unable to find the back of the net, though, as they only had six total shots in the match, two of those on target. SIUE had twenty-four shots in total, with six on target.

Eastern head coach Jake Plant said that the team was unable to grab momentum early, which contributed to the loss.

“We got the first shot. Had that gone in, we would’ve seen the energy,” Plant said. “After about twenty-five minutes, though, the energy dropped. Maybe the identity we try to play with wasn’t there.”

He said that the team did eventually bounce back, but not timely enough. 

“After about a thirty-minute lull, by the time we get back into trying to do what we do, it was a bit late,” Plant said. “A complete performance is what’s required against a good team. . . We did it for 45 (minutes), but unfortunately, we just didn’t do it for 90.”

Eastern played on Sunday and now on Tuesday ahead of their Thursday clash against Austin Peay in a fight for OVC Tournament placement. The lack of rest is something Plant said he has taken into consideration.

“Today we’ve gone as deep with the squad as we had all season,” Plant said, “and we have got to make sure we spread those minutes out. I trust the girls, they have got a lot of good talent. We’ll do the same thing on Thursday.”

He stressed that a complete performance is needed against Austin Peay. 

“(For the game Thursday) We need to play for 90,” Plant said. “You got to make sure you’re there the whole time, every minute. We go to Austin Peay on Thursday, and they’re a team that has to win. We know that, they know that, so it’s going to be an intense game.”

On Thursday, Eastern plays Austin Peay in Clarksville for a 6 p.m. match. The match will be important for helping Eastern potentially move up in the OVC standings and possibly pick up some points.

Nick Bays can be reached at 581-2812 or ntbays@eiu.edu.