Eastern men’s soccer season ends with a 1-0 loss to the Incarnate Word Cardinals.

The Cardinals’ lone goal came from sophomore forward Sello Diphoko off of an assist from junior defender Will Ansah.

The Panthers were outshot by the Cardinals 22 to 11. The Panthers had five shots on goal compared to the Cardinals’ 12.

Panther’s junior goalkeeper Chad Smith had another good game, getting 11 saves, the second highest of his career. He ends the season with five shutouts and led the team in saves (52), goals allowed average (1.11), and save percentage (.800).

Eastern ends this season at 4-10-5, which is their best record since 2019 when they went 5-9-2. Their conference record of 3-5-2 is their best since 2000 when they went 6-5-0.

In Head Coach Josh Oakley’s second season with the team, he improved from 1-12-3 to 4-10-5.

Senior forward Sam Eccles led the team in points (11), goals, (4), shots (45), and shots on goal (24). Sophomore forward Casey Welage leads the team in assists with four. Freshman forward Jake McConnery led the team in minutes with 1,609.

Luther Yoder can be reached at 581-2812 or at lyoder@eiu.edu.