CHARLESTON, Ill. – In the final match of a three-game road stand, the IUPUI (1-2-1) men's soccer team fought back from a goal down to force a 1-1 draw against Eastern Illinois (1-1-1).

"We really struggled with EIU's defensive game plan in the first half, and they ended up getting a scrappy goal and taking a 1-0 lead into halftime," said head coach Sid van Druenen. "We made some adjustments at half and the guys reacted well and we fought our way back into the game with a nice goal. We probably deserved more as we missed a penalty and hit the post a couple times."

Following a lengthy weather delay, the teams took to the pitch about an hour after the scheduled kick off time. Despite the delay, both squads came out energized. The Jaguars looked to get on the board early, drawing multiple fouls and generating free kicks in the opening minutes of play.

The hosts settled into the game, maintaining the lion's share of possession for the remainder of the first half. The Panthers turned up the pressure at about the halfway point of the opening stanza, registering five shots in just over four minutes play, including the match's first goal. The tally came from Sam Eccles—the Panther's leading scorer from a year ago—off an assist from Casey Welage.

Despite being outshot 9-0, the Jags went into the break only down a goal. Senior Bryson Najarian, in his first start of the year, recorded five saves to keep the team in the game.

The visitors looked much sharper at the beginning of the second 45 minutes. The best scoring chance came in the 59th minute when Kyce Toutanji made an exceptional save from point blank on a Logan Finnegan shot. After getting his own rebound, Finnegan lofted the ball up to strike partner Josemir Gomez who hit the post with his header. The ball fell kindly to Spencer Holland who sailed the ball over the crossbar.

Less than a minute later, a penalty was awarded to the Jags after Lukas Hackaa was taken down from behind inside the 18-yard box. Finnegan stepped up to take the penalty but hit the right post.
IUPUI finally broke through in the final minutes of regulation. After winning a corner, Dominic Breidenbach sent a beautiful ball into the box that sailed over the heads of multiple Eastern Illinois defenders onto the left foot of Kyle Healy, who sent the ball over the keeper's head for his first IUPUI goal.

Both sides looked to find a winner in the closing five minutes, but neither was able to secure a second tally.

IUPUI begins Horizon League play on Saturday (Sept. 9), taking on Wright State at Michael A. Carroll Stadium at 3:00 p.m.