The Eastern women’s soccer team will face two non-conference opponents this weekend, as the Panthers will travel to face Evansville at 3 p.m. Friday, before coming home to host Northern Illinois at 1 p.m. Sunday at Lakeside Field.

Eastern head coach Summer Perala said both teams, Evansville and Northern, don’t bring much to the table that the Panthers haven’t already seen this year against earlier opponents.

“Both teams will be very physical and quick to counter,” she said, “Evansville is going to try and clog the middle and pressure quickly when we have possession. NIU, under a new coach, have become very blue-collar and hard working.”

Evansville is currently in the same position as Eastern, 1-4 on the season and coming off a loss.

The Purple Aces have given up a combined five goals in their last two matches, while also being shut-out in all of the team’s four losses. Evansville’s most recent loss came against Purdue in a 4-0 rout, a team the Panthers lost to in double-overtime in the second match of the season.

As Perala mentioned, Northern is under new leadership, with new head coach John Ross. Ross, a 2000 alumnus of Northern, was previously an assistant at North Dakota State. Under Ross, the Huskies are off to a 2-2 start, coming off a 3-0 win over Loyola.

For the Panthers, the main objective in these two matches is going to be possession, Perala said.

“Our main focus for the games this weekend is possession,” she said. “If we can’t find a way to keep the ball and connect to our own players, we’ll be chasing throughout the entire game. Our goal is to keep the ball moving and look to stretch the other team and counter through those opportunities.”

Perala said the Panthers need to come away with two wins this weekend.

“I think it’s extremely important to come out with two wins,” she said. “A win on the road Friday against Evansville will be a huge turning point for the mentality of the girls. Everyone is very motivated to get a positive result after the way they played last weekend.”

Of Eastern’s five matches, four have been decided by one goal, with three going into double-overtime.

Eastern holds the all-time advantage over Evansville, 3-8-2, but are a startling 0-6-1 when taking on the Purple Aces on the road.

The Huskies have not paid a visit to Charleston since 1996, with the series being 1-2-1 between the in-state rivals. The two teams ended in a 0-0 tie when they met last season.

The match against Evansville will start at 7 p.m. Friday in Evansville, Ind., while the match against Northern is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. Sunday at Lakeside Field.

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