The Eastern men’s soccer team was at home Saturday for its third conference match of the season. 

The Panthers fell 2-1 to Summit League foe Omaha, dropping to 1-2 in conference play. 

Omaha is now 2-0 and in third place in the conference. 

The Panthers were able to jump ahead early in the match. 

In the 12th minute, a corner kick from redshirt senior Jonas Castelhano was redirected into the net by redshirt senior forward Davi Girardi. It was Girardi’s first goal of the season as well as Castelhano’s first assist. 

It was the fifth goal of the season so far for the Panthers, with each goal coming from a different player. 

Omaha was able to even the score 14 minutes later when senior forward Hugo Kametani got the ball past Eastern goalkeeper Jonathan Burke.

The score was tied into halftime and for much of the second half before the Mavericks grabbed the lead for good. 

Freshman defender Naz Astwood scored the game-winner on an assist from senior forward Connor Jokerst on a corner kick in the 77th minute. 

Eastern was able to mount some scoring chances in the final 13 minutes, but were unable to get anything else through Omaha goalkeeper Nathanael Sallah, resulting in the one-goal loss. 

Burke had a season-high 11 saves in the match while Girardi led the team with 3 shots. 

Kametani led all players with 6 shots and 4 shots on goal while Sallah recorded 4 saves.

Eastern’s next match will be a nonconference affair on the road against Louisville Tuesday. 

Louisville is currently ranked 23rd in the nation by the United Soccer Coaches poll. 

There were two other Summit League matches Saturday. 

First-place Denver beat winless St. Thomas 3-1 at home, getting goals from Stefan DeLeone, Ben Smith and Lukas Fisher.

St. Thomas got its goal from Faris Colic. The Tommies are now 0-3 in conference play in their first season as a Division I program. 

Oral Roberts, the second-place team in the conference, picked up a 1-0 home win against Western Illinois.

A goal in the sixth minute Reed Berry was all the Golden Eagles needed to get the win. 

Oral Roberts received a vote in the most recent national poll, the only Summit League team to have received a vote. 

Western is now 0-2 on the season in conference play and is 0-10 overall. 

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