CINCINNATI, OHIO — Chad Smith turned in an outstanding performance at goalkeeper and Delphi Sabu netted the game-tying goal in the second half as the Eastern Illinois men’s soccer team showed their resilience once again. The Panthers played the Xavier Musketeers to a 1-1 tie in a Sunday evening road matchup. With the result, the Panthers now stand at 0-1-1 on the season.
Smith was the star in the first half for the Panthers as his four highlight reel saves kept the game tied heading into the break, despite the Musketeers holding a first half advantage in both shots (8-2) and corner kicks (7-2) . Despite not gaining much traction on offense in the first half, the Panthers were once again stellar when defending their own half of the field in the first period, as despite spending much of the first half on the Panther side, the Musketeers could not get the ball past Smith.
Xavier was able to break through early in the second half with a goal in the 47th minute to take a 1-0 lead. The Panthers offense began to show a bit more life in the second half, which culminated with Sabu’s goal off a near-corner throw-in from William Bruce in the 72nd minute, which tied the game at 1-1. Xavier pressed hard for the final 19 minutes of action, but another save from Smith as well as a great out-of-bounds deflection off of an Xavier player by Bruce in the final minute of action managed to keep the Musketeers out of the net and the Panthers out of the loss column. All-in-all, Smith recorded five saves and allowed just one goal in 16 shots faced.
Along with Sabu, Sam Eccles, Julian Smithand Prince Okonny all registered a shot on goal for the Panthers. Jude Spallinger also recorded a shot.
Up next, the Panthers continue their road stretch with a visit to Indianapolis to face the IUPUI Jaguars on Friday, September 2. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 PM CT.