The Eastern women’s soccer team earned its first victory of the season on Sept. 2 at Chicago State, capping off a pair of weekend matches in which they went 1-0-1. 

The first match was on Friday afternoon at Lakeside Field. After falling behind IUPUI 1-0, the Panthers managed to tie up the match on a Haylee Renick goal. 

But neither team managed to pull ahead, and the match finished as a 1-1 draw. 

“We were 1-0 down and we fought our way back into the game,” head coach Jake Plant said. “The girls had a refusal to be beaten.”

Plant also saw improvements in play against IUPUI, especially in the attacking style of offense they have been focusing on in practice. 

“The girls are getting more rhythm in front of the goal,” Plant said. “Today (against IUPUI) everything was there but the finish. When the finish comes, we look like geniuses.”

The chances were there for Eastern. They outshot IUPUI 16-14, the first time they had outshot an opponent so far this season, 

The Panthers took another step towards offensive success on the road Sunday against Chicago State. 

Renick scored her second goal of the weekend, and Lexi Ketterhagen added one of her own for insurance.

But goalkeeper Sara Teteak only needed the one goal, as she stopped all four shots she faced. 

The Panthers were once again on the attack, even more than against IUPUI.

They got off 17 shots, 10 of which were on goal. The defense allowed only five shots from Chicago State players. 

“The hardest thing in soccer is putting the ball into the net,” Plant said. “The girls had plenty of opportunities to do that and did it twice. Another day it might be five or six times. As the season progresses, the goals will go in more and more.”

A part of the style Plant wants the team to adopt is attacking for the entire game without running out of steam near the end of matches. 

Their shots were dispersed throughout the match, shooting 10 times in the first half and seven times in the second, while also scoring one goal per half.

Even in the last 10 to 15 minutes, the Panthers pushed the ball on offense regardless of their two-goal lead. They nearly added points on a couple of times late. 

Plant said that the team had been getting to the point where they could perform for a solid 90 minutes, and seemed to put it all together against Chicago State. 

Sarah DeWolf did find the net near the end of the match, but it was waived off on an offsides call. 

The call upset DeWolf, who received a short talk from the referee afterwards. It upset the team as well, but they bounced back quickly and nearly scored again moments later.

“They might be bummed in the moment because they’re hungry to score, they’re hungry to win,” Plant said, adding that the momentary disappointment in losing a goal is replaced with a desire to score another one. 

Overall, the Panthers are 1-2-2 in 2018. Renick and DeWolf lead the team with two goals each. 

Next weekend they play Indiana State at home before traveling to DeKalb to face Northern Illinois. The weekend after that is the start of the conference season. 

Adam Tumino can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]