Junior midfielder Adam Gartner’s two assists on corner kicks proved to be the difference as Eastern Illinois defeated Indiana-Purdue-Indianapolis University 2-0 Wednesday at Lakeside Field in the teams home opener.

“The ball felt great off my foot on both assists,” Gartner said.

The first goal came in the 31st minute of the first half when senior midfielder Brad Earl beat his defender and shot a header to the right side of the net for his first goal of the season.

“There was nothing too special to the play,” Earl said. “I cheated up because there was space by the near post. I knew I could get a goal if I beat my defender.”

Gartner saw Earl beat his man on the play.

“We wanted to line up back on the peak A spot,” Gartner said. “I saw both Mick (Galeski) and Brad beat their men, but Brad got there first.”

Eastern (5-1-1) controlled the game shooting a season high 24 shots and recording its fourth shutout of the season.

IUPUI (1-5-1) was limited to seven shots, with only one shot on goal.

IUPUI head coach Steve Franklin was disappointed with his teams play.

“We were not organized,” Franklin said. “We matched up with Eastern well, unfortunately we did not execute on the free kicks.”

The Panthers second goal was off another Gartner free kick as the ball was dropped by the IUPUI goalkeeper Peter Brasovan and kicked in by freshman forward Alex Harrison in the 61st minute.

“The second assist I just wanted to kick deep,” said Gartner. “The ball hung up in the air and gave the goalie problems.”

Eastern threatened early in the game with two shots by junior forward Brad Peters in the 28th minute and in the 16th minute that nearly put the Panthers on board.

The Panthers struggled last Friday against Dayton allowing two goals, but played much better in the victory Wednesday versus the Jaguars. The Panthers limited the Jaguars shots and set the tempo for most of the game.

Junior goalkeeper Mark Hansen was happy with how the defense performed.

“We haven’t played well defensively,” Hansen said. “It was good for the team. We got a shutout.”

IUPUI tried to cut the lead of the Panthers down in the second half, but were unsuccessful.

A header by Jaguar freshman midfielder Tyler Brumbaugh traveled just over the crossbar in the 63rd minute.

IUPUI was also unsuccessful in a free kick from the box as senior midfielder Adrian Conrad’s kick traveled well over the goal.

Eastern head coach Adam Howarth was very pleased by his team’s victory.

“Our passing was good,” Howarth said. “Our service was better, our movement was better, and we played a lot sharper.”

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