After going 1-0-1 this weekend, the Eastern women’s soccer team earned a spot in the OVC Tournament for the first time since the 2013 season. 

The Panthers finished the season with an overall record of 6-7-5 and a conference record of 4-3-3. Their 15 conference points tied them with Eastern Kentucky in the standings, but Eastern was awarded the three seed through a tiebreaker. 

This means that they will host a postseason game on Sunday, Oct. 28 at Lakeside Field. 

The Panthers will play the winner of the six and seven seed matchup, which will feature Belmont or Southeast Missouri. 

“Even though we’ve been winning a lot of games on the road this year, home field advantage is always nice,” Plant said. “The other benefit is we get Friday off. We’ll be rested and our potential opponents on Sunday will not be as well rested as us.”

Plant also said that earning such a high seed in the tournament has a little extra meaning due to something that happened before the season started. 

“The girls have been playing with a chip on their shoulder the whole year because this team (Eastern) was voted by the other conference opponents to finish last,” Plant said. 

After playing Jacksonville State to a scoreless draw on Friday, they beat Tennessee Tech 2-1 on Sunday to close out the regular season. 

The shutout on Friday was the sixth shutout for the Panther defense in conference play and their eighth overall. Junior goalkeeper Sara Teteak was the starter for all of those matches, and leads the conference in shutouts. 

She finished near the top of other OVC goalkeeping leaderboards. Her goals against average and save percentage were both the second best in the conference.

On Sunday, she had 12 saves and only allowed one goal. The 12 saves was a season high for Teteak. Her previous high was eight, which she reached twice this season on Aug. 24 and Sept. 24. 

“She’s been a staple in goal for us,” Plant said. “We pride ourselves in the way we defend, and if the defense fails we have a good goalkeeper behind them to back them up. That’s what Sara did today.”

On the offensive end on Sunday, sophomores Haylee Renick and Eva Munoz scored goals. Munoz’s goal was the first of her career. Renick’s was her fourth goal on the season, which leads the team.

The Panthers will be heading into the tournament having won two of their last three matches. They scored six combined goals in the two wins. 

“I’m extremely proud of the program,” Plant said. “This is the cherry on top, getting the girls into the tournament. They earned that position and I’m very proud of them.”

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