The women’s soccer team traveled 255 miles Thursday morning to its new home stadium.

Eastern hopped on a bus for a four-hour bus trip to Columbia, Mo., to prepare to play tournament host Missouri in the first round of the Women’s College Cup, but the Panthers will be listed as the home team.

Eastern coach Steve Ballard was informed his team would be the “home team” because the Panthers have a higher ranking than Missouri.

“That means we are the second seed in our group of four,” Ballard said. “That really speaks well for our program.”

The Panthers, winners of the Ohio Valley Conference, are actually the most experienced team out of Missouri, Kansas and Illinois State by making their third consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament.

The higher seeding is not the only reason Missouri coach Bryan Blitz has respect for the Panthers. Blitz, a former coach at Butler, said he knows he cannot overlook a small school like Eastern because he knows what a small school is still capable of.

The first meeting this year between the teams also helped convince him. Eastern nearly stole a game in Columbia Sept. 19 but fell 3-2 in overtime.

Blitz said he expects the score to be similar to the last meeting.

“It was a war and I don’t expect anything less than that this time,” he said. “We just want to be lucky and perform well.”

The first matchup showed both teams are not afraid to put on offensive pressure. Ballard said Missouri will be quick off the whistle to try to get an early goal on its home field.

“They came out extremely hard on us and we expect the same thing,” Ballard said. “At the beginning, if we can withstand that onslaught, we will have a good chance.”

The Tigers bring a well-balanced attack with the three-headed monster of Kristen Heil, Melissa Peabody and Jennifer Nobis, who have combined for 24 goals.

Ballard said the Tigers can expect the same pressure from them.

“It will be very similar,” Ballard said. “It’s not like we are going to be sitting back.”

A lot of that pressure will be coming from senior forward Beth Liesen. Liesen leads the team with 20 goals and had both goals in the last Missouri game.

“We would all like to have Beth Liesen’s on our team,” Blitz said. “She’s a big time player. She compares with any of the forwards we have seen this season.”

With the high-powered offenses the shots will be many and the score could be high. Ballard said Missouri is a team that is unafraid to take long range shots while also keeping them on frame.

Ballard said the key will be how well his defense can react to that pressure. The combination of Lee Ann Langsfeld, Audra Frericks, Lindsey Holcomb, Amy Dix and Morgan Frericks will be responsible for keeping the ball away from goalkeeper Tiffany Groene.

“I think one of the key things is which backs can contain the opponents’ strikers,” Ballard said. “It’s crucial (our defense) bring their best game to the field tomorrow.”

With the team’s being so similar, Ballard knows the basics of whoever makes the fewest mistakes will come out on top.

“Both teams know each other well, and it’s going to be whoever has their game on at that time,” Ballard said.

Blitz feels the same way.

“I think at this point, every team is hot to get to this point,” he said. “It’s just who can continue to keep it going.”