Matchday information
WHO: Eastern Illinois (1-1-0)
When: Thursday, August 29 | 6 p.m. ET
Where: Charleston, Illinois | Lakeside Field
Live statistics: link
Regard: ESPN+
Know your enemy: Eastern Illinois opened the season with a 3-0 win over the University of Chicago before losing 5-1 to Detroit Mercy this week. Jackson Liley scored one goal for the Panthers in a seven-card game.
All-time record: Eastern Illinois leads 13-7. The two teams last played each other in 2022, when EIU won 1-0 in Fort Wayne.
WHO: Bradley (1-1-0)
When: Saturday, August 31 | 4 p.m. ET
Where: Bradley, Illinois | Shea Stadium
Live statistics: link
Regard: ESPN+
Know your enemy: Bradley is 1-1-0 this season. They play at home against Western Illinois on Thursday and will wait for the Mastodons to arrive for Saturday’s game. The Braves are coming off a 1-0 win over Chicago State and a 3-2 loss to Horizon League member Milwaukee last week. The Braves never led in the game against Milwaukee and scored their second goal in the 90th minute.th Minute.
All-time record: Bradley leads the series 5-1. The Mastodons’ lone win in the series came in 2016 in a 4-3 overtime decision in Evansville, Indiana. This will be the first meeting with Bradley since 2018, when the Braves won 2-1 in overtime in Fort Wayne.
Last time outside
The Mastodons lost 4-2 to No. 3 West Virginia last week to open the 2024 season. The Dons defeated West Virginia 2-1 in the second half with goals from Marco Valencia And Marcos Soria in the second half. 20 different Mastodons were used in the competition. Seven players (Felipe Medina, Andrew Hollenbach, Adrian Renteria, Sep Habibi, Marcos Soria, Shane Anderson, Angel Rodriguez) experienced their first deployment as a Mastodon.
90-minute men
Daniel Tarek And Andrew Hollenbach Both played the full 90 minutes in West Virginia.
Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back
Some notable returnees for the ‘Dons’ this year:
– Seth Mahlmeister led the Horizon League with 10 goals and added three assists. He was selected to the 2023 All-Horizon League First Team. He was named a Forward to Watch by United Soccer Coaches on their national watch list. Top Drawer Soccer also ranked him 75th on its top 100 forwards list for the 2024 season.
– Juan Romero was named to the second team last year after recording two assists and playing a key role in Mastodon’s defense. He started 14 games and played all 90 minutes in five contests. He was also named to the 2023 Horizon League All-Tournament Team and selected to the 2023 CSC Academic All-District team.
– Aidan Antcliff is back after appearing on the 2023 Horizon League All-Freshman Team. He played in 16 games with 10 starts last year and scored a game-winning goal against Wright State.
Welcome to Fort Wayne
Some new additions to note:
– Andrew Hollenbach played two seasons at Dallas Baptist in NCAA Division II. He was selected to the league’s third team in 2023, played in all 19 games and helped the Patriots finish second in the league. He played all 90 minutes in the first game of the year at West Virginia.
– Marcos Soria played two seasons for Western Texas College. He started 12 games in 2023, recording three assists. He was selected to the NJCAA All Region V first team. He started 11 games in 2022, recording one assist. He scored a goal in the opening game at West Virginia.
– Felipe Medina was named to the All-Summit League Second Team at Oral Roberts in 2022. He played a total of three seasons for the Golden Eagles. He made an assist in the opening game at West Virginia.
– Adrian Renteria was named All-Region at Harding’s Division II in 2019. He started and played 74 minutes against West Virginia.
Next
The Dons travel to Marquette to play the Golden Eagles on September 5. This will be the Mastodons’ only trip to Wisconsin this season, as the league games against Milwaukee and Green Bay are home games this season.
~ Feel the rumble ~
