The Eastern women’s soccer team was minutes from seeing its fourth straight match head to extra time, but a late goal by Indiana State propelled the Sycamores to a 1-0 win over the Panthers in Terre Haute, Ind.

Indiana State’s Sydney Lovelace added the only goal of the match in the 87th minute of play. Crete native Alexandra Rodas added the assist for Indiana State. The goal was Lovelace’s first of the season.

The Panthers, who had a surge of offense in their last match against Cleveland State, saw it come to a screeching halt against Indiana State, as they were out-shot 17-5 by the Sycamores. The Panthers had only registered three shots in the first half.

Head coach Summer Perala said her team was simply outworked by Indiana State.

“Indiana State did a fantastic job coming out with energy,” she said. “We got outworked and outplayed in the first half and didn’t do quite enough in the second half to try and get the result.”

Perala said it was poor defense letting up the goal late in the second half, and that the team needs to find a way to come out firing.

Red-shirt junior Jessica Taldone was back in goal for the Panthers, making five saves in the match. Freshman goalkeeper Erin Mitchell got the start for the Sycamores, and she needed only one save to earn the victory.

The majority of Indiana State’s shots came from Lovelace, who fired six of the team’s 17 shots. Sophomore Emily Chura had three, while sophomore Bria Caldwell had two. The Sycamores had six other players each record one shot on goal in the non-conference match.

For the Panthers, all five of the team’s shots each came from five different players. Senior Kristin Germann, who scored three goals in the last match, did not record a shot in the match.

With the loss, the Panthers fall to 1-4, while the Sycamores improve to 2-2, snapping their two-match losing streak.

Perala said she’s hoping the team will be able to get its legs back for a tough match coming up against Evansville.

The Panthers will be back in action on Sept. 7, when they will head back to Indiana to take on Evansville at 3 p.m. in Evansville, Ind.

Dominic Renzetti can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].