The Eastern women’s soccer team came into Missouri looking for a little momentum for the Ohio Valley Conference tournament next weekend. Instead it suffered their second straight loss 3-1 against a tough Missouri team. The two teams battled to a scoreless first half with the Tigers (12-7) holding an 8-5 shot advantage. The first half was more physical as the teams combined for 12 fouls and a yellow card.

The Panthers (12-5) came out strong in the second half and got on the board first off the foot of senior midfielder McKenzie Smith. The Missouri goalkeeper punched the ball out, but Smith was able to redirect the shot into the back of the net.

The Tigers did not give up and put in three goals in a five minute span. The first came on a pass from Tamara Kochen to Adriene Davis that snuck by freshman goalkeeper Lindsay Dechert.

Missouri took a 2-1 lead when Karen Bauer sent the ball into the upper left corner on a pass from Suzy Probst. The game was put out of reach four minutes later on a shot from freshman Shea Swoboda.

The Panthers were outshot 23-12 and 15 -7 in the second half. Eastern is now able look at their important tournament game against Tennessee Tech on Friday. Eastern was named the second seed in the tournament after going 4-1 in conference play with their lone loss against Southeast Missouri. The Panthers defeated Tech 2-1 in their regular season matchup.