One day after knocking off Southeast Missouri 4-3 in penalty kicks in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament championship, the Eastern women’s soccer team waited to see who they would play next.

The Panthers (11-7-3) won in dramatic fashion over SEMO for the second straight year to earn their second trip to the NCAA Women’s College Cup in school history.

The Panthers, one of 29 teams to receive an automatic bid, sat around the television Monday afternoon to see who they would be playing in the first round on Friday.

Eastern’s questions were answered quickly as they were announced in the first bracket against the Purdue Boilermakers. They will travel to a familiar setting as they head to South Bend, Ind., with the game set for 4 p.m.

Eastern traveled to South Bend last year in their first tournament experience in a 2-0 loss against sixth seeded Notre Dame.

Ballard believes that playing in South Bend will be beneficial for Eastern. “We have been on that field before, and we have experienced that environment of having three to four thousand fans in the stands,” Ballard said. “I think experience is a blessing.”

The Boilermakers (13-4-3), members of the Big 10 Conference, will be making their first tournament appearance in the team’s short existence. The team was created just five years ago but has already been recognized in national (No. 14) and regional (No. 1 Great Lakes) rankings. They received one of the 35 at-large bids after bowing out to Ohio State in the Big Ten semifinals.

Ballard says that Eastern has a tough game ahead of them but is pleased with the outcome of the selection. “We have got our hands full with Purdue,” Ballard said. “I still think that’s a fabulous draw for us.”

For freshman and first year players, this experience may not have been expected coming into the season. “I had no idea we would be this good,” freshman defender Lee Ann Langsfeld said.

For last year’s players, it was not only an expectation to return to the tournament, but they wanted to bring it to the next level with a victory.

“We were pumped and excited last year just to be there,” junior forward Beth Liesen said. “This year we are not going be just satisfied with being there. We want to win.”

A win over Purdue could give the Panthers a possible rematch against Notre Dame (11-7) in the second round if the Irish can get by Big 10 Tournament champion Ohio State (8-10-3) in Friday’s second game in South Bend.