The Panthers tied with the Indiana State University Sycamores 1-1 at Lakeside Field on Sunday afternoon.

The Panthers came out of the gates hot, scoring near the 10-minute mark on the foot of senior forward Serra Pizano.

When asked about her mindset when she scored, Pizano said that she knew the goal would come down to either her or her teammate, sophomore midfielder Ella Onstott, who assisted on the point.

Pizano also talked about how she is proud of her team and how they played together in this game.

The Panthers were efficient on offense, scoring on their only shot on goal.

The Panthers did not let having only one goal stop them from consistently pressuring the Sycamores in the first half.

The Panthers’ defense was strong in this game besides the one goal scored towards the latter part of the first half by Sycamore defender/midfielder Maddie Helling.

This defensive effort was fronted by Panther goalkeepers, junior Lexi Prusow and redshirt freshman Ashlyn Hoover, who both had three saves.

Prusow was proud of the defensive effort and communication by the Panthers this afternoon. Communication seemed to help keep the Panthers’ heads up and in sync defensively.

This defensive effort is also something that Panthers’ Head Coach Dirk Bennett has been preaching this season.

As his team is looking for their identity this season, Bennett is hoping they can maintain the solid defense they had for this game.

Bennett talked about how proud he was of his team’s aggressiveness and ability to start on the front foot in today’s game.

Their aggressiveness seemed to die down into the second half as the Panthers spent the majority of the half on defense.

However, they did start to be aggressive towards the end of the second half by putting pressure on the Sycamores’ defense.

Pizano led the charge late in the half, but the Panthers could not capitalize.

This aggressiveness was also apparent with the Panthers having more fouls and a yellow card on redshirt freshman midfielder Kylie Mahoney towards the later part of the second half.

The Panthers are now 1-2-1 in the 2023 season.

Eastern is back on the road for their next game on Thursday, where they will compete against Purdue Fort Wayne at 5:00 p.m. at the Hefner Soccer Complex.

Elijah Harden can be reached at 581-2812 or at densportsdesk@gmail.com.