Western Illinois’ Armel Kouassi scored a goal just 37 seconds into the game and gave his team a lead that would hold the rest of the day.

The Eastern men’s soccer team fell to Western 2-0 Saturday on the road.

Kouassi’s early goal was backed by six total shots on goal from Western and five saves from Leatherneck goalkeeper Tim Trilk, as Western handed Eastern its fourth loss of the season and as many in five games.

Eastern senior goalkeeper Mike Novotny said the quick goal by Kouassi changed the game entirely.

“We were chasing that goal the rest of the game,” Novotny said. “We came out flat and Western capitalized on that quickly, credit to them.”

For the Panthers, the game marks the fifth game in a row where they have failed to score a goal.

They did, however, take more shots in the game than Western, firing off 11 shots, five on goal.

The 11 shots tied the season high for the Panthers set in September against Wright State.

A pair of freshmen shouldered a majority of the Eastern shots as freshman Erik Isaksson took three of the 11 shots for Eastern and Fredrico Verlichi added two of his own, moving his season total to 14.

Edgar Mesa, Simeon Packer, Kris Luke, Jonathan Huerta, Zach Medawattage and Tyler Enright tallied the other shots for Eastern.

“The main thing we need to focus on is getting the confidence in front of the net,” Novotny said of the offense. “Can’t win games if we can’t score.”

The second and final goal for Western would come in the 33rd minute of the game when Drew Whalen scored on an assist from Paul Kirdorf.

The goal gave Whalen his 6th of the season and he is now tied with teammate Fernando Pacheco and Omaha’s Elvir Ibisevic for the conference lead.

Novotny said he did not feel the team played up to their usual expectations on defense, saying that two “silly mistakes” caused the goals and that they had a lack of concentration.

The loss drops Eastern’s record to 2-4-5 on the season and 0-1-1 in conference.

For Western, the win moves their record to 4-5, 2-0 in conference, and puts them in sole possession of first place in the Summit League.

Eastern will stay on the road for its next game as they will travel to Denver for a matchup Oct. 7.

JJ Bullock can be reached at

581-2812 or [email protected]