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CHARLESTON, Ill. - The IUPUI men's soccer team opened up Summit League play with a scoreless draw at Eastern Illinois on a rainy Sunday afternoon in Charleston. Senior goalkeeper Tyler Keever made six saves in net for the Jaguars as both teams fired 16 shot attempts.

"We did everything right except score a goal," Head Coach Isang Jacob said. "Eastern Illinois is a good team. They had a lot of energy and had a huge crowd, so to pull a point out of that environment was a good outcome.

"I'm really proud of everyone we put on the field today."

The shutout was the second of the season and the eighth of Keever's IUPUI (1-6-2, 0-0-1 Summit) career. The Indianapolis-native lowered his goals against average to 1.41 and has allowed just two goals in the past 298 minutes.

On Sunday, both teams had chances, but neither found the back of the net.

Senior Tyler Fritcha had a quality strike late in regulation, only to have it pushed aside by EIU (4-4-1, 0-0-1 Summit) goalkeeper Evan Turner. In the first overtime period, senior Matt Guy hit a shot on target, but Turner redirected it out of play, resulting in an IUPUI corner kick.

EIU's Mike Picinich was unlucky in the first half, having an attempt glance off the crossbar in the 22nd minute thanks to a brilliant save by Keever. The Jaguars' goalkeeper lunged to his left and got a hand on the ball, redirecting it off the hardware.  

Picinich and Fritcha led all players with four shots apiece.

The Jags were shutout for the third straight time and sixth time in nine outings this season.

"Right now, the guys are chasing two or three goals. They need to get the first one first and get some confidence," Jacob said.

The two teams combined to attempt 18 corner kicks and were hit with 42 whistles, collectively. Each team was also issued four cards including EIU's Graham Lynch earned a red card ejection in the 108th minute.

The Jaguars will return to non-conference action next Friday afternoon (Sept. 30) when they head to Bowling Green, Ohio to take on Bowling Green State in a 1:00 p.m. kickoff. The Falcons come in with a 5-2-1 record and are 2-1 at home this season.