Eastern men’s soccer team gave up three goals on a misty Lakeside Field Tuesday in a 3-0 loss against Evansville on Tuesday.

Players on both teams slipped all over the field as the light rain dampened the grass, and it may have affected Eastern freshman goalkeeper Garrett Creasor on Evansville’s third and final goal, head coach Adam Howarth said.

Evansville’s Faik Hajderovic hit a shot from 22 yards out at the 66-minute mark. The shot lacked power, trickling along the grass, but Creasor’s foot caught the grass wrong and he slipped.

The slip allowed the ball to sneak past Creasor’s left side and into the goal.

The goal was the third and final goal of the game for the Aces, but the score could’ve been even higher if a few chances in the first half crossed the goal line.

Evansville’s Jesse Sharp found the ball at his feet in the goal box after one of the Aces’ eight corner kicks in the game and his shot got passed the Creasor’s right side. On the play, though, Creasor wasn’t the last line of defense.

Eastern sophomore forward Tayron Martin was standing on the goal line and blocked the ball of his legs to save a goal.

Creasor got tangled up with multiple Evansville attackers 15 minutes into the game, leaving the goal box wide open.

Eastern freshman midfielder Nick Smith, standing at the same spot Martin was seven minutes earlier, blocked an open shot with his legs. Then, he blocked a rebound shot in the stomach by the same Evansville player.

At the 28-minute mark, Evansville’s bench erupted thinking it had a goal, but once again an Eastern defender saved a wide open net.

Creasor, diving to save a shot, collided with a charging Evansville defender and lost control of the ball. The ball slid to the feet of an Evansville attacker, who tried chipping it into the goal; however, an Eastern defender was there and cleared it before it went over the goal line.

Going into halftime, the game was scoreless. Despite what could’ve been a 3-0 Evansville lead, Howarth said the team was still confident in its chances.

“Even though (Evansville) had those chances, we played pretty well and created some things offensively,” Howarth said.

The Panthers had five shots in the first half, but Howarth said the team came out flat in the second half and Evansville took advantage.

Evansville’s Dylan Terry hit a shot just to the left, passed Creasor and a sliding Eastern defender for the Aces’ first goal of the game from five yards out seven minutes into the second half.

The Panthers best chance of the game came early in the second half when red-shirt freshman Garet Christianson broke free along the right sideline and hit a touch pass to freshman forward Braiden Acton. The shot was Acton’s only of the game and was saved by Evansville’s Eric Teppen.

Evansville converted on one of its eight corners in the game in the 63rd minute when Evansville’s Joel Craig headed a ball into the top left shelf of the goal from a corner by Hajderovic.

Hajderovic scored three minutes later on an unassisted goal.

“After that first goal we were chasing the game and that stretched us out,” Howarth said. “The second and third goals were pretty poor from a goalkeeping standpoint.”

Creasor was taken out of the game after 71 minutes of play. Senior goalkeeper Evan Turner entered the game and finished it off, making one save.

“Confidence-wise you have to make sure (Creasor) doesn’t get too down on himself,” Howarth said.

The Panthers hit the road for their next game back into Summit League play.

The Panthers will play Nebraska-Omaha at 1 p.m. Saturday.

Alex McNamee can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].