Friday’s match at Lakeside Field between Eastern and Oakland will serve as the head coaching debuts for both Jason Cherry and Dave Morgan, who were both named interim head coaches by their respective schools this summer.

However, this won’t be the first meeting for Cherry and Morgan. The season finale of the 2009 season saw Oakland and Western Illinois both fighting for a spot in the Summit League tournament. The winner would secure a spot; the loser would have their season end early.

Close to 60 minutes into the match, Western head coach Tony Guinn and Oakland head coach Nick O’Shea were both thrown out of the game, pitting Cherry, then an assistant at Western, and Morgan against each other to try and lead their teams to the Summit League tournament. Western would go on to win by a score of 2-1.

Fast forward to 2013, then Eastern head coach Summer Perala resigns in July to pursue other opportunities; a few days later, O’Shea, the most successful coach in Summit League history, steps down after 19 seasons as Oakland head coach. Cherry now leads Eastern and Morgan now leads Oakland.

“I know a lot about Oakland,” Cherry said. “They were a big rival at Western Illinois. It was always a tough match.”

Oakland, who left the Summit League in search of a stronger RPI, is now a member of the Horizon League, where it was picked fourth in the pre-season poll.

Oakland played in the NCAA tournament last season, upsetting the No. 4 seed Ohio State 3-1 in penalty kicks. The Golden Grizzlies would fall in the second round to Texas A&M.

“They’re very physical, quick, they work hard, very technical team,” Cherry said.

Oakland dropped a 1-0 loss in its preseason to Kent State Saturday. Senior goalkeeper Payj O’Shea split time with freshman Stephanie Bukovec.

Eastern has four goalkeepers on its roster: sophomore Emily Hinton, the only returning member from last season’s roster, sophomore Cortney Jerzy, a transfer from St. Xavier, red-shirt freshman Kylie Morgan, a transfer from Kentucky and freshman Jessica Kiely.

Cherry has yet to name a starter.

Oakland returns its leading scorer from last season, junior Kyla Kellerman. The East Elmvale, Ontario, Canada native was the Summit League Offensive Player of the Year and All-Summit League first team, leading Oakland with nine goals. Oakland also returns junior Abigail Haelewyn, another All-Summit League first team selection, who led the team with nine assists last season.

Eastern’s Hannah Miller was named to the College Sports Madness Preseason All-Ohio Valley Conference Second Team. The sophomore forward had two goals and one assist last season.

Senior Caitlin Greene is the only returning member of the Panthers who started and played in all 19 matches last season. Greene had two goals and one assist last season.

This will mark the second meeting between the two teams. The match is scheduled for a 3 p.m. start on Friday at Lakeside Field.

The Panthers will then hit the road Sunday for another non-conference match against Northern Illinois. The Panthers and the Huskies met on Lakeside Field last season, where Northern was able to come away with a 1-0 win after Corinne Frankenberg scored in the fourth minute.

Frankenberg returns for her senior season after scoring four goals and recording four assists last season. Goalkeeper Amy Carr also returns for her senior season. The England native recorded 0.89 goals against average last season. Northern finished 8-9-2 last year.

“John (Ross), the head coach (at Northern), I have a lot of respect for him,” Cherry said. “He has the team working very hard and working together and really came at you, so I expect a really tough match there.”

Ross is entering his second season as the team’s head coach.

The Panthers and Huskies will square off at 1 p.m. Sunday in DeKalb.

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