The Eastern women’s soccer team will travel to Evansville Wednesday to face the Purple Aces, and will be looking for a complete game effort.

The Panthers’ goal is to come out ready and play the first half like they’ve played the second halves of their previous games with Missouri and Southwest Missouri.

Evansville’s record this year is 1-5-1, but is very deceiving. With only one win and five shut outs, Evansville still brings tough competition to the Panthers.

“They’ve had a tough year, but they’ve played some tough teams,” Eastern head coach Steve Ballard said. “Evansville has a lot to offer and will be tough competitors.”

Being ready to play has been Eastern’s biggest challenge this year, and is what it needs to beat Evansville.

Ballard has worked on preparing the women for this game the past couple of practices, but he believes preparing themselves is more important than preparing for what Evansville has to offer.

“We’re prepared, but it all depends on that day,” junior Audra Frericks said. “Our practice has been about what we need to work on during the game. We just need to have a good warm-up and get fired up before we play.”

Teammates agree that coming out ready is vital to winning this game.

Senior forward Teri LaRoche said, “We need to come out and play both halves instead of just the second.”

Midfield sophomore Jill Nowak also added, “We need to come out with a shut out; score first and have no let downs on defense.”

Eastern’s players are confident in how well they have come along as a team and what the outcome will be Wednesday.

“I think our defense has stepped up and our offense knows how to produce goals,” Nowak said. “Overall, we’re better than Evansville.”

Being better than Evansville will be determined by the final score, but the matter of winning this game is going to be based on whether the women can maintain their high level of play.

Evansville, a top team in the Missouri Valley Conference, is just as hungry for a win, perhaps wanting it more after a slow start.

Eastern has been the top team in the Ohio Valley Conference the past two years, and Evansville, like many other teams, wants to beat them.

The Panther women came out on top last year against Evansville with a 3-0 victory. Wednesday’s match-up will reveal if the Panthers can keep the Purple Aces at the bottom of their deck.