The Eastern men’s soccer team take on Western Illinois at 11 a.m. Saturday at Lakeside Field. The Panthers are coming off two straight one goal losses and have dropped five of their last six games overall which puts them at 1-7-1 for the season.

Western Illinois comes in looking for their first win of the season, struggling early on with a record of 0-6-4. One bright spot for them is the fact that in their 10 games they have managed to either tie or lose by one goal. Their experience in close games should serve them well in this matchup.

Western and Eastern Illinois are the bottom two teams in the conference, respectively. The Panthers’ 0-3 Summit League record does not tell the whole story.

In nine games this season, the Panthers have scored first in only two of them, one of them being their lone win against Purdue Fort Wayne. Eastern will look to attack and grab the momentum early.

In the last 15 years, the Panthers have never gone winless at home. With the matchup this weekend it will be their second of only four home games for the 2022 season. With beautiful fall weather in the area on Saturday, Eastern will look to take advantage and begin their climb back into Summit League contention.

Brian Barrett can be reached at 581-2812 or bjbarrett@eiu.edu