Eastern played a back-and-forth four-goal thriller against Southern Indiana Saturday at Lakeside Field.  

The Panthers (2-10-2, 1-6-1) scored the first and the last of the goals, sharing the points in a 2-2 draw with the Screaming Eagles (2-12-2, 1-5-2).  

Here are some notable numbers to keep track of as the team approaches the final two games of the regular season: 

1: Eastern continues to do a lot with a little. The Panthers only have one scholarship for the entire team, according to head coach Josh Oakley, and they’re competing against teams with way more resources. 

Still, the Panthers are a result or two away from being in the tournament.  

“You come in here with one scholarship and no staff, you don’t think you’re going to be an unbeatable team,” Oakley said after the game on Saturday. “But what I’ve always wanted to lay out for the guys here in the last two years is to be a team that is unbreakable.”  

While Oakley says getting the three points would’ve been nice, one point isn’t a disaster.  

Had the Panthers lost to the Screaming Eagles, Eastern would have been four points behind the last OVC tournament spot and, due to tiebreakers, forced to win the final two games of the season and get help from results elsewhere in the conference.  

Instead, Eastern is two points back of Western Illinois, a team the Panthers own the tiebreaker over. Eastern could draw both of its final games against Lindenwood and Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville and still have a chance. A loss to Southern Indiana would have given the Panthers very little chance at the postseason.  

4: This number is notable for two reasons. 

First, freshman forward Adam Boykin had four shots on target against Southern Indiana that were all saved. Second and most important, Boykin is one of four players to score their first collegiate goal in the past two games against the Leathernecks and the Screaming Eagles. 

“He’s just an unstoppable player when he’s focused on getting to the goal,” Oakley said.  

Boykin, along with freshman forward Sebastian Khoury, scored their first colligate career goals against Western Illinois. The Southern Indiana game saw the first career goals of sophomore midfielder Jake Pollock and freshman defender David Brown. Brown also picked up his first career assist with Pollock’s goal.  

9: This is the shirt number of captain and grad forward Sam Eccles, who isn’t lighting up the box score, but is still contributing to Eastern’s attack in a massive way.  

Eccles’ ability to switch play, passing across the field to an open teammate, is key for Eastern’s attack. 

Multiple chances were created by Eccles’ hold up play, allowing the wingers to make forward runs before playing through a key pass to those wingers on the move.  

Eastern’s second goal wouldn’t have been scored without Eccles’ ability to play Boykin through into the attacking third. Boykin ended up winning a free kick, and the Panthers scored the equalizer from it.  

10: Eastern finished their game against Southern Indiana with 10 shots on target, which is the most by the Panthers in a game since moving to the OVC from the Summit League. 

The last time an Eastern team had double-digit shots on target in a game was October 1, 2022. Ironically, that game was also against Southern Indiana. Eastern hit the target with 12 of its 14 shots in a 3-2 loss.  

12: Senior goalkeeper Chad Smith saved a penalty kick (taken 12 yards from the goal line) in the 66th minute that would have given the Screaming Eagles a 3-2 lead had it gone in. 

Eastern has gotten multiple penalty kick saves from Smith in the last couple of years, most notably his save against Lindenwood last season which earned the Panthers the point they needed to qualify for the OVC tournament over Houston Christian.  

“Chad [Smith] is great at stopping penalties,” Oakley said. “We’ve known that.” 

It’s unclear how important this result will end up being for Eastern, but had Southern Indiana scored the penalty, Eastern might’ve not been able to level the game again. 

If the Panthers find a way into the tournament by just a few points, the saved penalty kick and subsequent draw as a result of keeping the score tied may become a key point of the season like it did last year.  

Eastern’s penultimate game will be against Lindenwood on Thursday at Lakeside Field. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. 

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