Men's Soccer Falls to MVC Foe Eastern Illinois, 4-1 10/6/02

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Eastern Illinois used four unanswered goals on Sunday afternoon to defeat the Vanderbilt men's soccer team 4-1 at the Vanderbilt Soccer Complex. With the loss, the Commodores fall to 2-9 overall and 0-2 in the Missouri Valley Conference, while the Panthers move to 6-5 overall and 2-0 in the conference.

The first three minutes of the game brought a great deal of offensive excitement. Vanderbilt jumped on the board in the second minute of the game, when forward Nik DeMello scored following a perfect set of passes by defender Josh White and midfielder Kyle Lapkewych. Following a long pass from White, Lapkewych sent a cross to the far post which DeMello put in the back of the net. For DeMello, it was his team-leading 10th goal of the season.

The Panthers didn't waste any time knotting the score up at 1-1, as midfielder Jimmy Klatter scored following a long throw in from defender Ben York. York's throw in sailed by the Vanderbilt defense, and eventually fell to the feet of Klatter.

Eastern Illinois kept things going in the 22nd minute, when forward Jason Thompson scored the first of his two goals on the afternoon. Following a beautiful cross from midfielder Chad Dumonceaux, Thompson drilled a header past goalkeeper Matthew Gotterer.

After leading 2-1 at the half, the Panthers scored another goal when Dumonceaux drilled a shot into the far corner following an assist from midfielder Aaron Aguirre. Thompson sealed the game in teh 81st minute when he beat back-up goalkeeper Brad Winter one-on-one. Thompson's two goals on the afternoon give him 12 for the season.

Vanderbilt returns to action at 7 p.m. Friday when it takes on Drake in Des Moines, Iowa. The Commodores defeated the Bulldogs 2-1 last year in Nashville.

Goals
VU: Nik DeMello (Josh White, Kyle Lapkewych) - 1:24
EIU: Jimmy Klatter (Ben York) - 3:03
EIU: Jason Thompson (Chad Dumonceaux) - 21:02
EIU: Chad Dumonceaux (Aaron Aguirre) - 79:37
EIU: Jason Thompson (Unassisted) - 80:36