Men’s soccer defeated the Eastern Illinois Panthers 1-0 at Plaster Field in the Bears’ final regular season conference game.  The Bears finished regular season conference play with a 3-1-1 record.

The Bears (6-8-4) came into the game looking to bounce back after a disappointing nonconference loss at UMKC on Tuesday (Oct. 28). The Bears released their aggression early with a barrage of shots and outshot the Panthers by a 9-4 margin in the first half.

The Bears and Panthers battled through two periods of scoreless soccer despite 24 combined shots in regulation. Kyle Windmueller led all shooters with five shots on the night.

The Bears finally broke the scoreless tie when Nick Dryden received a corner kick from Gerard Barbero and slipped it just inside the right post for the game winning goal with 3:45 remaining in overtime. The goal was Dryden’s first of the season and Barbero’s second assist.

The Bears will be in action again on Thursday (Oct.  9) at Plaster Field when they take on Tulsa in their final regular season game at 7 p.m.