@DEN_Sports tweet of the day: The #EIU women’s basketball team picked up three votes in the first Mid-Major Top-25 poll.
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Sports Editor Dominic Renzetti 217 • 581 • 2812 DENSportsdesk@gmail.com
T H E DA I LY E ASTE R N NEWS D A I LY E A S T E R N N E W S . C O M
W E D N E S DAY, N O V E M B E R 2, 2011 N o. 1 4 5 , V O L U M E 9 6
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WOMEN’S SOCCER
Tournament field set in conference >> THE RACERS come into the tournament 4-3-2 in OVC play, having won four of their last six matches, going 4-1-1 in that stretch. The only Racer loss in that period was to first-round opponent Morehead State. >> THE EAGLES come into this first round match-up with a conference record of 4-4-1, having won their last two OVC contests, including a 1-0 win over opponent Murray State at home Oct. 28.
Murray State
Morehead State
>> THE REDHAWKS enter the tournament as the top seed and host, holding a conference record of 8-1-0. The team’s only loss came against Morehead State on Oct. 7. The Redhawks beat Murray State 3-0 Sept. 26.
Southeast Missouri
>> THE COLONELS come into the tournament with a 5-3-1 conference record and a first round bye, having won their last two OVC contests and holding regular season wins over both potential opponents.
Eastern Kentucky
Tennessee-Martin >> THE SKYHAWKS enter the OVC tournament having won their last three matches against conference opponents and four of their last five. Three of those four wins coming in overtime. They lost their only meeting Eastern, 1-0. >> THE PANTHERS come into the tournament with losses in their last three conference matches and an OVC record of 4-5-0. The Panthers won their match with Tennessee Martin Oct. 2.
Eastern Illinois
ILLUSTR ATION BY ALEX MCNAMEE STORY BY BR AD KUPIEC
MEN’S SOCCER
CROSS COUNTRY
Eight runners earn honors Road struggles continue for team By Dominic Renzetti Sports Editor
Following junior Erika Ramos’s fourth place finish in the Ohio Valley Conference championship meet, the Panthers had a number of other top finishers, as well as five runners on the All-OVC team. Junior Olivia Klaus finished behind Ramos in fifth place with a time of 18:25.83, while fifth year senior Caitlin Napoleoni finished out her career on the Eastern cross country team with a seventh place finish. Napoleoni crossed the finish line with a time of 18:35.02. Juniors Britney Whitehead and Gabriela Duenas finished in 11th place and 14th place. Whitehead recorded a time of 18:41.44, while Duenas had a time of 18:44.44.
By Grant Truccano Staff Reporter
T h e E a s t e r n m e n’s s o c c e r team’s hopes of being in the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament have been dashed, following a loss to Belmont on Tuesday. The Panthers lost to the Belmont Bruins on the road by a score of 3-0 in Nashville, Tenn. Eastern now holds a record of 7-8-1 with one game remaining in the 2011 regular season, while Belmont is now 6-9-2 overall this season. Despite losing 3-0, the Panthers still out-shot the Bruins 139. Freshman Will Butler paced the Panthers with four shots, while freshman Tayron Martin had three shots of his own. Panthers, however, only had three saves, while the Bruins had five. The Panthers did, however, have less fouls with 11, while Belmont had 14. The Panthers had three corners while the Bruins had five, but the Panthers also had less offside penalties with four while Belmont had seven. Sophomore goalkeeper Tyler Kelly took the loss for the Panthers, while junior Evan Turner logged 11 minutes in the game before he got a red card. The road loss now brings the Panthers to 5-7 when away from Lakeside Field this season. So far this season when on the road, the Panthers have lost to Bradley University 1-2 in overtime in Peoria, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville 1-3 and Evansville University 2-3 in overtime in Evansville, Ind.. They have also lost to NiagaROAD, page 7
Closing out the Panthers’ top 25 finishers, red-shirt senior Megan Gingerich finished in 15th place with a time of 18:48.81 and Emily Pedziwiatr finished in 27th with a time of 19:52.86. The final Panther finisher was freshman Chelsea Sondgeroth, who finished in 40th place with a time of 19:52.86.
Five earn All-OVC honors For the second consecutive season, the Eastern women’s team had five runners named to the all conference team. Ramos, Klaus and Napoleoni were each named to the all-conference first team. Whitehead and Duenas were each named to the second team. The Eastern men’s team finished in second place in the OVC championship meet, falling to Eastern
Kentucky. The Colonels finished in the top two spots, totaling 18 points, well ahead of Eastern’s second place 62 score. Finishing behind the Panthers’ top finisher, senior Brad LaRocque, the team had a number of runners finish in the top 25. Freshman Bryce Basting finished in 11th place with a time of 26:11.35, while senior Matt Feldhake finished in 13th place with a time of 26:15.35. Sophomore Danny Delaney finished 14th place with a time of 26:21.13. Juniors Graham Morris and Jordan Jones rounded out the team’s top 25 finishers. Morris finished in 18th place with a time of 26:41.83, while Jones finished with a time of 26:49.58.
RUNNERS, page 7
MEN’S BASKETBALL SEASON PRE VIE W
Team ‘excited’ for season By Rob Mortell Staff Reporter
NATALIE FEDDER | THE DAILY EASTERN NE WS
Senior defender Zach Piekarski jumps for a header against an Oakland University player Saturday during the Panthers’ 0-2 loss on Lakeside Field.
Coming off a disappointing season, Eastern’s men’s basketball team will aim to rebound this year after a 9-20 overall record in 2010-2011. Before Jan. 22, the Panthers had an 8-10 record with a majority of their Ohio Valley Conference games still to play; however, they would lose eight straight games and 10 of their last 11, ending the season without making the conference tournament. Eastern lost six players from its team last year, including Curry McKinney and Shaun Pratl, both of whom started more than 20 games. The Panthers and head coach Mike Miller have brought in seven new recruits: two freshmen, two sophomores and three juniors. Miller said the main focuses this off-season was to provide more scoring from the guard position
Newcomers Name
Position
Hometown/School
Austin Akers Malcolm Herron Alex Lubsey Joey Miller* Jonathan Miller Josh Piper Morris Woods
Guard Guard Forward Guard Guard Forward Guard
Brazil, Ind./Olney JC Downers Grove/Western Texas Kingston, Jamaica/Tyler JC Charleston/Charleston HS Baltimore, Md./Manatee JC Champaign/Centennial Chicago/Moraine Valley JC
*Son of head coach Mike Miller and to improve the team’s athletic versatility. “(The recruits) all do different things,” Miller said. “Now what we have to do is put the pieces together where they fit well.” Even though the Panthers have brought in some promising recruits, Miller said the returning players have developed their individual games. Miller and the rest of the coaching staff put the returning players
through rigorous training in the spring after the season’s early end. The players would go through twoa-days; lifting weights in the morning and working on basketball skills in the afternoons. “I have been very pleased with our returning guys, with the way the have worked and their attitudes and their approach and that has carried over to the new guys,” Miller said.
SEASON, page 7