Junior forward Alex Tetteh became the first EIU women’s soccer player to score four goals in a game since 1996 in Eastern’s 4-0 win over Western Illinois Thursday evening in Macomb.

Tetteh tied the EIU and Ohio Valley Conference record for most goals scored in a game, recorded her second career hat trick in as many seasons and led the Panthers (5-4-2, 2-0) to a second consecutive win in OVC play.

“I’m excited for her, personally,” head coach Dirk Bennett said. “She’s been playing better and better and growing through the season. She’s been a little bit quiet on the stat sheet, so I kind of have a feeling this might be a really good opportunity for not just her but for the team.”

Tetteh became the eighth player in OVC history to score four goals in a game. The last time anyone in the OVC scored that many goals in a game was 2013.

“It’s super cool,” Tetteh said. “I was unaware [of the record].”

The first goal of the game came in the eighth minute. Junior defender Ashlyn Nobles had the ball in an advanced position down the left wing and crossed it in towards the middle.

Tetteh stayed behind the center backs, and then sprinted forward once the ball was in the air. Her left foot met the cross on the volley, which is when a player takes a shot while the ball is in the air on a downwards trajectory. The connection was well-timed and beat the goalkeeper at the near post.

“The first goal was pretty special in terms of the finish,” Bennett said. “Anytime you score a goal off the full volley like that you get some confidence, and then she just kept putting herself in the right place at the right time.”

Tetteh made it 2-0 just before the half-hour mark when freshman midfielder Camylle Graves sprinted with the ball down the left wing and into space. Tetteh made a run ahead of her, and Graves rolled the ball through to Tetteh, who scored with another first touch shot.

It became a hat trick for Tetteh early in the second half. Junior forward Abby Reinl took a shot that was saved by the goalkeeper. However, Tetteh was the quickest to react to the rebound, which had bounced in front of a wide-open goal.

At the hour mark, junior midfielder Brooklyn Greene collected the ball along the right side after it had been cleared following a corner kick. Greene curled a cross high into the penalty area, and Tetteh jumped higher than anyone else and headed the ball into the top corner.

“With how the game was going, I knew that I could get some more [goals], so I just wanted to ride it out and keep taking advantage of the opportunities I was given,” Tetteh said.

Junior goalkeeper Ella Kratochvil earned her fourth consecutive clean sheet, which moves her into fifth all-time in program history with 11 career clean sheets.

The win marks Eastern’s best start since 2013 in OVC play. The Panthers now sit alone at the summit of the league table after two games.

“It’s nice to be in the driver’s seat,” Bennett said. “It’s nice to look at the standings and see EIU on top by ourselves now.”

Eastern’s next game is away at UT Martin on Sunday. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m.

Gabe Newman can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].