This weekend the Panthers did everything they could to try and catch the Samford Bulldogs for first place in the Ohio Valley Conference, and for a brief moment they did pass their rivals.

Eastern came out on Friday and took care of what they needed to, as they defeated Southeast Missouri by the score of 2-1 on Michelle Steinhaus’ third straight game winning goal.

That victory put the Panthers one point ahead of Samford in the OVC standings, but the Bulldogs’ final conference came on Sunday and they solidified their spot atop the OVC with a 1-0 victory over Morehead State.

The loss ended Eastern’s season the same as it was a year ago, one point behind Samford for the outright OVC championship.

The loss in conference was a tough one for Eastern coach Steve Ballard, who was looking forward to taking the OVC this season.

“You have to look at the fact that we struggled with our consistency,” Ballard said. “I mean, we lost to the sixth place team in the conference (Jacksonville State) and had a tie with a team that didn’t even qualify for the conference tournament (Tennessee Tech).

“Looking at those games, it’s the coach’s responsibility to make sure the team is ready to play every game, that is where the frustration comes in.”

The temporary high the team took out of their game on Friday against SEMO was due to defeating what Ballard referred to as one of the top teams in the OVC.

The Panthers struck first off of a corner kick from senior midfielder Rachel Dorfman when senior Audra Frericks was able to head the ball into the back of the net.

The Otahkians then answered shortly after, tying the game at one where the game remained until overtime was nearly completed.

At that point, Steinhaus took a through pass from sophomore Abby Bohnenstiehl and beat two defenders on her way to gathering Eastern’s victory with only six seconds remaining on the clock.

“We played absolutely one of the best teams we had played all year and were able to defeat them,” Ballard said. “It was a little bit back and forth, particularly in the first half, but we won every ball in the second half and became, by far, the better team.

“For Michelle, that was a great play finishing the game that way, and this has become a great time for her.”

But all the things that Eastern did well against SEMO disappeared on Sunday when they traveled to Southwest Missouri State and were dealt a 2-0 loss. The game was a surprise to Ballard, who stressed to his team that they still needed to come out and play every game to the best of their ability.

“Sometimes we just seem to be a Jekyll and Hyde team,” Ballard said. “We played so well on Friday but just came out and seemed to lack some spark today, we need to learn that we can’t do that.”

That may especially be the case for the OVC tournament considering the team’s entire season comes down two games, after they receive their bye in the first round of the tournament.

“Regardless of what you do in the regular season, it all comes down to the tournament and your season is a two-game season at that point,” Ballard said. “Win those two games and you’re in the NCAA tournament.

“That’s our goal and we’ll see if we can make that goal happen.”