The Eastern women’s soccer team needs a victory to bounce back from its 0-3 losing streak.

The Panthers have been shut out twice and outscored 6-1 so far this season.

“I think we just need to have more urgency when we finally get the ball,” senior Ashley Eck said. “We need to look to connect the first pass, get more numbers into the attack and be creative. We can’t always wait for the perfect chance to take a shot.”

Waiting is something the Panthers cannot afford to do, with opponents scoring quickly against them.

“A couple of our games, we have gotten scored on in the first five minutes and we dig ourselves in a hole,” junior Kristin Germann said.

History is on this teams’ side, however, as Eastern can beat IUPUI. They have shut them out three times and are 4-0 against them all-time. The team’s match against Butler will be the wildcard, as Eastern has never faced them before.

The match against Butler will be the team’s first home game in three weeks, as well as the team’s first home match of the 2011 season.

Eck said the team is excited to play on the road and gain confidence for the team’s home games.

“I think we are all very motivated and fired up to get that first win and especially if we can get it on the road. It will give us a lot of confidence going into our upcoming home games,” Eck said.

Germann had many strong words about the team’s chances this weekend.

“We all know what we are capable of and if we come together as a team knowing our goal, we can get our first win,” Germann said. It just comes down to the basics with us, and if we can keep focused for a whole 90 minutes we can come out with a win. I’m very confident about this weekend. We’re due for a win and I feel two coming.”

The team remains positive this weekend will change the season around. Red-shirt sophomore Jessica Taldone said the team’s previous experience against IUPUI will benefit them this weekend.

“I feel that a game against IUPUI, who we have beaten easily in the past, should give us a lot of confidence going into the rest of the season,” Taldone said.

She also said if they go into the matches this weekend confident and prepared mentally they will already be ahead of where we have been in our past two games.

The Panthers play IUPUI at 7 p.m. Friday on the road and Butler 1 p.m. Sunday at home.

Lenny Arquilla can be reached at 581-7944 or [email protected].