CHARLESTON, Ill. - Host Eastern Illinois defeated the IU Indianapolis women's soccer team, 1-0, on Thursday (Aug. 21) at Lakeside Field. The Panthers secured the win with a second-half goal, capitalizing on one of their five shots on goal. Head coach Angela Berry White's team managed 16 shots, but EIU goalkeeper Ella Kratochvil recorded five saves and saw the Jaguars hit two crossbars to preserve the shutout.
"It's always tough to lose a game, especially one in the last few minutes," White said. "I'm proud of our players for creating chances in the attacking third. We need to learn how to capitalize on our opportunities. We're still trying to figure some things out. We'll learn from our mistakes and get back to work to prepare for our next game."
The first half saw IU Indy (0-2) maintain a persistent offensive effort against Eastern Illinois as the Jaguars outshot EIU 6-2 in the opening 45 minutes.
Sarah Henson had a shot glance off the crossbar in the eighth minute off a setup from
Emma Frey and was followed by efforts from
Anika Guenther,
Avery Bangert, and
Caroline Kelley. Bangert had a gorgeous attempt redirected over the bar in the 31st minute and Kelley put a header off the midsection of Kratochvil in the 33rd minute.
The Jaguars came out firing in the second half including a clean look from
Lindsey Castillo in the 55th minute that flew high of target. In the 59th minute, Kelley lined a shot squarely off the bar and back into play from just beyond the top of the 18.
EIU broke through in the 87th minute when Alex Tetteh laced a shot past
Sarah Bambrick off a centering pass from Kate Germano. Tetteh finished with three shot attempts for the hosts while Guenther had a team-high five shot attempts off the bench for the Jaguars. Bangert, Castillo and Kelley all closed with two shot attempts.
Bambrick finished with four saves while Kratochvil made five stops in the shutout victory.
The Jaguars will return home to host Southern Illinois on Sunday (Aug. 24) at the on-campus Michael A. Carroll Stadium at 1:00 p.m. That game will be part of Spirit Week kicks off the opening week of classes on campus.
