To say the Eastern men’s soccer team’s experience this weekend at the Holiday Inn City Centre Classic was a little tricky would be an understatement.

In the opening match Aug. 29, Eastern made short work of the University of Rhode Island thanks in large part to a hat trick by Jimmy Klatter.

The sophomore from Geneva scored three second half goals to pace the Panthers to a 4-1 win. Klatter scored his first goal just into the second half at 47:52, when he received a pass from freshman defender Mike Comisky that led to a breakaway attempt. Klatter blasted an 18-footer past Rhode Island keeper Michael Charles to put the Panthers up 2-0.

Nearly 20 minutes later, Klatter was back at it once again. After a pass from junior defender Lee Burke, Klatter scored his second goal from a hard angle on the left side at 66:10.

The preseason All-Missouri Valley Conference honorable mention pick completed the hat trick at 88:13, after Klatter stole the ball from a Rhode Island defender and scored an unassisted chip shot past Charles. Klatter’s final tally gave the Panthers a 4-1 win.

Head coach Adam Howarth was quite pleased with both the performance and the leadership of Klatter.

“Jimmy played real well,” Howarth said. “Before the game he was named as a captain and he took the role of a leader in the first game.”

Earlier in the contest, senior mid fielder Abraham Martinez scored the Panthers first goal of the season on a rebound header that found the back of the net at 16:11.

Rhode Island avoided the shut out at 70:44 when Brian Mazza found the ball loose at the goal post and knocked home the shot past redshirt freshman goalkeeper Casey DeCaluwe. Despite allowing Mazza’s goal, DeCaluwe picked up his first collegiate victory by stopping four of the five shots he faced in 90 minutes of action.

“Casey played great,” Howarth said. “You can’t blame him for any of the goals this weekend.”

In the second game of the tournament, Oral Roberts played tricks on the Panthers by defeating Eastern 4-0 on Aug. 30.

Midfielder Miguel Menuina put the Golden Eagles on the scoreboard at 4:51 when he sent a screaming kick past DeCaluwe. The 18-foot shot was aided by Alejandro Guardia who passed Menuina the ball at the top of the field to pick up the assist.

The score remained 1-0 until 46:38 of the second half when Comisky’s yellow card set up a penalty kick for Oral Roberts. Forward Trey Vaut did not let a golden opportunity slip away when he beat DeCaluwe on the penalty shot.

“That (call) was a very dubious decision that really seemed to deflate us,” Howarth said. “Then we had a call just four minutes later that could have resulted in a penalty kick for us, but instead we were called for diving.”

Jonathan Ball put the game away at 75:50 when he took a pass from Vaut and buried a 12-footer to give the Golden Eagles a 3-0 lead. Menduina closed out the scoring with a breakaway goal at 89:52.

Oral Roberts goalkeeper Hector Zapata recorded a shut out as he faced 10 shots (five on goal) to pick up his first win of the season.

Howarth said the score was a little deceiving compared to the actual competition of the game.

“I wouldn’t say we were overmatched by Oral Roberts,” Howarth said. “We tried to do some things different and some worked and some didn’t. It was just one of those games.”

With a 1-1 record, the Panthers finished third in the four-team tournament. Host Bradley won the tournament.