Eastern had 10 shots on target but was unable to outscore Southern Indiana in a 2-2 draw Saturday afternoon at Lakeside Field. 

The Panthers (2-10-2) outshot the Screaming Eagles (2-12-2) 22 to eight over the entire game. Southern Indiana sophomore goalkeeper Andrew Klott saved seven shots from freshmen forwards Adam Boykin and Jackson Liley in the second half. The Panthers also hit the crossbar with a chance in the last few minutes of the game.  

“I think that’s the game of soccer sometimes,” head coach Josh Oakley said. “We created good chances, but two goals should be enough to win a game, and unfortunately, we played into their hands a little bit on the few chances that they had. That’s what makes it a game, they converted.” 

For the second straight game, Eastern had two players score their first collegiate goal. Freshman defender David Brown played a long ball down the field that sophomore midfielder Jake Pollock got on the other end of and struck the ball first time with his left foot into the net.  

Brown later scored an equalizer on a designed play, or set-piece. A free kick which was whipped towards the back post by grad midfielder Felipe Kerr Lourenco, and Brown held off his defender and flicked it into the net with his head. 

“I saw it coming to me on the back post and it was in a great area for me,” Brown said. “I knew I had the size advantage on my defender, and I just had to go make a play.” 

Brown’s goal and assist were both the first of his collegiate career. 

“I feel like [the draw is] an unfair result,” Brown said. “We came out and we played well.” 

The Panthers dominated the opening 15 minutes, taking five shots before netting the opening goal of the game. But after Southern Indiana scored its first goal in 572 minutes of play, both teams settled into an even deadlock in the first half.  

Southern Indiana scored its second goal after Eastern gave the ball away to sophomore forward Jackson Mitchell, who drove to the edge of the penalty area and placed his shot perfectly into the far bottom corner.  

“Too many times I think we got sloppy,” Oakley said. “I want to say all the goals came from us being on the ball.” 

Southern Indiana had a golden opportunity to retake the lead just minutes after giving it up. Mitchell got passed sophomore defender Kyle Ward and once he got into the penalty area, Ward clipped his backheel and tripped up Mitchell resulting in a penalty kick. Senior midfielder Garland Hall stepped up to face senior goalkeeper Chad Smith. Hall aimed for the left side of the goal, and Smith dove the right way and punched the ball away from danger to make the save.  

“I just read him,” Smith said. “I knew where he was going.”  

Both teams earn a point in the Ohio Valley Conference standings. A win for either team would’ve put them into sixth place, which is the last spot that qualifies for the OVC tournament, because Western Illinois lost to Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville 3-0 today.  

Instead, Western stays in sixth, with both Eastern and Southern Indiana inching one point closer to the Leathernecks.  

“We try not to scoreboard watch too much, we just know we got to go out and get more than one point in these next couple games.” Oakley said. “It’s definitely there for us, and we just got to go do it.” 

Boykin feels like the season-high 10 shots on target is a result of the team starting to click.  

“I think me and the team are all a little more confident,” Boykin said. “We know what we can do, we know what we’re capable of and we’re just going to keep pushing to try and make the playoffs.” 

Eastern has two more games at Lakeside Field remaining, beginning with Lindenwood on Thursday. Kickoff for that game is set for 4 p.m. 

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