So, it comes down to one game.

The entire season, for the players who take pride in winning the regular season conference race, comes down to one last game.

Sure the women’s soccer team, that has represented Eastern in the NCAA College Cup the last three years, has three games remaining this year, but one game is all that really matters.

Looking up at Samford in the Ohio Valley Conference throughout most of the 2004 season, Eastern now has only one opportunity left to catch them.

That chance to catch Samford will come this upcoming Friday when the Panthers welcome Southeast Missouri to Lakeside Field.

The Panthers trail Samford by two points in the current OVC standings and will need a little help from the Bulldogs to be able to tie or overtake them. Eastern needs to win and, coupled with a Samford tie or loss, then can lay claim to the OVC title in one way or the other.

The winner of the conference hosts the OVC tournament, which places the winner into the College Cup. SEMO will come into the match-up with Eastern in a tie for third place in the OVC with Murray State and Jacksonville State, as all three teams have 11 points in conference play.

Eastern will have to win the game to overtake or tie Samford, but the Panthers will have to win without knowing what Samford does this weekend.

If anything, it will probably just keep Eastern focused. Knowing what they need to do and not having any excuses for using the flexibility to tie or lose could be a motivating factor for the team.

While some importance will be placed on this last conference game for Eastern, they do have a track record of finishing second and going on to better things in the conference tournament.

While winning the conference outright during the regular season would be a nice achievement, the Panthers have a better track record in the OVC tournament. Just a season ago, Eastern finished second in the OVC only to defeat the conference winner on their way to the College Cup.

If that proves anything, it proves that Eastern can go on to achieve what they set out to do whether they are playing the conference tournament at home or on the road.