Conference season is here, and the Eastern women’s soccer team is gearing up for their OVC opponents. 

First up are road matches against Morehead State on Sept. 14 and Eastern Kentucky on Sept. 16. 

The Panthers head into conference play with a record of 1-4-2 and are coming off a weekend in which they lost two matches by a combined score of 5-1. 

This week in practice, head coach Jake Plant wanted to see more consistency. Since the beginning of the season, Plant has stressed that consistency will lead to an eventual breakout performance. 

“Consistency has been the key all season long, and we are seeing some good improvements,” Plant said. 

Plant said that the team focused on defensive play this week as well, after allowing five goals last weekend.

Their first OVC opponent, Morehead State, has only scored five goals all season. 

The Eagles are in last place in the OVC with a record of 1-7. They have lost seven matches in a row, being outscored 20-3 in that span. 

They have allowed 21 total goals, the most in the conference. 

The Panthers will travel to play Eastern Kentucky next. The Colonels are in fifth place in the OVC at 4-4. 

Eastern Kentucky is coming off a two-match losing streak, the same as Eastern. 

The Panthers will look to get off to a fast start in conference play before facing the more dominant OVC teams in the coming weeks.

Plant is optimistic for the team’s performances this weekend based on the high level of play in practice recently.

“The repetitions in practice have increased in quality across the whole group,” Plant said. 

Leading the way for the Panthers offense have been sophomore Haylee Renick and junior Sarah DeWolf with two goals each. 

Last season, the Panthers only scored two goals in 10 conference matches. Goalkeeper Sarah Teteak, now a junior, had 51 saves in OVC play last season with a save percentage of .773. 

She is 4th in the OVC this season with 4.4 saves per game.  

Plant and the Panthers are looking forward to getting the ball rolling in conference play. 

“The girls have been focused and are excited to travel to Kentucky and to get the OVC schedule going,” Plant said. 

After the road matches this weekend, the Panthers will play their next four at home. 

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