Eastern was unable to score for the third time in the last four games, losing to Houston Christian University 3-0 Sunday afternoon at Lakeside Field. 

The Huskies (6-5-2, 4-1) dominated the game in long stretches, controlling the pace of play and creating the better chances. Houston Christian had 57% possession and translated that into 16 shots compared to Eastern’s (1-9-1, 0-5) seven. 

Despite the discrepancy in shots, both teams hit the target with their shots four times, 

Two goals were off of corner kicks, which has been a problem for Eastern. All week the Panthers worked on defending set pieces, including corners.

Eastern head coach Josh Oakley was happy with how the rest of the game went. 

“I don’t think [Houston Christian], outside of the corner kicks, did a whole lot,” Oakley said. “I like what I see here, just gotta learn how to defend corners.”

Eastern was behind early in the game, conceding a goal in the third minute to Husky freshman midfielder Morgan Worsfold-Gregg, who scored his first collegiate goal. That goal gave the Husky’s momentum and allowed them to control the game. They were creating numerous chances with eight of the 10 field players for Houston Christian recording a shot. 

Injuries to their defenders continue to be a burden for the Panthers. Eastern was without freshman defender Patrick Osilaja, who played through a groin injury for 64 minutes during Thursday’s 4-1 loss to Incarnate Word.

With Osilaja being the fourth defender currently injured, sophomore Kyle Ward shifted over to right back, and grad Lucas Santos came in and played left back. Eastern also started with three freshman center backs: Nate Hagemann, David Brown and Sebastian Piatkiewicz. 

“This was a very talented team that we played, a very athletically gifted team,” Oakley said. “Our players, especially our freshmen Nate, Seby and Dave, they did a really good job of managing it for us.” 

Eastern have hit the halfway point of Ohio Valley Conference play, and are the only team to still not have a point. The Panthers currently sit at the bottom of the OVC table in eighth place. They are four points behind Southern Indiana for the last spot in the OVC tournament. 

“[Today’s performance] gives me hope and belief,” Oakley said. “But we have games in front of us, and of those game three are at home and two are away.” 

Eastern will travel to face Liberty on Thursday and then play at Western Illinois on Sunday. After that, the three remaining regular season games will be at home.

Kickoff on Thursday is set for 6 p.m.

Gabe Newman can be reached at 581-2812 or at ghnewman@eiu.edu.