Men unable to get on scoreboard in Peoria
Dan Cusack/Assistant Sports Editor
Issue date: 9/8/09 Section: Sports
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The Panthers (0-2-1) tied Mercer Friday 0-0 and fell to Memphis 2-0 as the Tigers scored two second half goals.
In Friday's match, Eastern put pressure on the Bears (0-2-1) in the second half, but could not find a way to score.
In the 75th minute, senior defender Jeff Kupiec was unable to beat Mercer goalkeeper Brett Petrick on a penalty kick, which was set up by freshman forward Kyle Bullock when he was taken down in the box.
In overtime, Bullock almost ended the game, but Petrick was able to scramble the ball from the goal line and knock it out of bounds on a side-footed shot from in front of the net.
Junior goalkeeper Sean Molony recorded his first career shutout, stopping two shots in the match.
Late goals were the downfall for Eastern in Sunday's contest. For the second time this season, a freshman scored two goals to beat the Panthers.
The Tigers (1-0-1) only managed four shots in the match, but freshman forward Jon Wright found the back of the net on two of the chances.
His first goal came in the 63rd minute with a low shot from the top of the 18-yard box. His second score was a left-to-right floater from across the box.
Howarth said a big momentum shift came five minutes before the first goal when senior defender Chris Pearson left the game with an injury.
Howarth said Pearson was unable to practice Sunday and will be probable for the next match Friday against Central Arkansas.
Freshman midfielder Jerry Maddi said the team did a lot of things well, but it has to cut down on mistakes.
"We possessed the ball really well," Maddi said. "I think we did a good job winning balls, and we outplayed both teams. We just have to cut down on mental mistakes and we will be fine."
Eastern dominated the shot count with 13, but it was only able to put three of those chances on goal.
"We did some good things this weekend," Howarth said. "We were able to create shots, we have been pressuring well and we have done a good job getting a lot of guys in. We have not had much luck so far this season. We had a couple of bad defensive plays, but this should be a good learning experience."
Maddi and Bullock were the only two players named to the All-Tournament team.
Maddi said he was honored, but he would rather have come away with a win during the weekend.
Eastern will look for its first victory at 5 p.m. Friday when it travel to Conway, Ark. to take on Central Arkansas.
Dan Cusack can be reached at 581-7944 or at dscusack@eiu.edu.
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