Live Stats vs. SIUE | Live Video
Live Stats vs. EIU | Live Video

JACKSONVILLE – After opening Ohio Valley Conference play at home last weekend, the Jacksonville State soccer teams will make the long trek to the state of Illinois for its first league test of the season this weekend.

The Gamecocks (4-6, 1-1 OVC) open the weekend on Friday in Edwardsville, Illinois against the Cougars of SIU Edwardsville before continuing on to Charleston, Illinois for a Sunday match with Eastern Illinois.  Friday's JSU-SIUE contest will kick off at 7 p.m., while the encounter with EIU is set for 1 p.m.  Both matches will be available on the OVC Digital Network.

Friday's duel with SIUE will be a re-match of the 2014 OVC Soccer Championship match.  The two sides met in Cape Girardeau, Missouri last November to decide the OVC Champion with the Cougars overcoming a 2-0 deficit late to take the crown in overtime, 3-2.  Jax State will be looking to snap a three-match losing skid to SIUE after claiming the first two matches with SIUE in 2011 and 2012.  The Cougars enter the weekend at 3-5-3 and 0-1-1 in the OVC.  Last weekend, SIUE recorded a draw with Southeast Missouri and dropped a 1-0 decision to UT Martin.

JSU will be looking to break another trend on Sunday at EIU with a win on the Panthers' pitch.  The Gamecocks have not secured a win over EIU in Charleston since the two sides started facing each other in 2003.  EIU owns an 8-4-1 lead in the series, but JSU has won two of the last three meetings, including a 3-1 win over the Panthers in 2014.  EIU takes a 2-8-1 overall mark in to its trip to Nashville to face Belmont on Friday before hosting JSU.  The Panthers started conference play with a pair of losses to UTM and SEMO last weekend.

The Gamecocks split last weekend's OVC opening weekend with a Thursday win over Morehead State and a 2-1 setback to Tennessee Tech last Sunday.  The win over the Eagles was the first since the 2005 season. It also marked the second straight OVC opener the Gamecocks have won. Senior Kelsey Bright scored a pair of goals on the weekend, including the game winner against Morehead State. She now ranks fourth on JSU's all-time goals list with 25 in her career.

JSU ranks fourth in the OVC in total goals and goals per game with 12 on the seasons and averaging 1.33 per outing.  Individually, Jax State sophomore goalkeeper Caroline Robinson is listed fourth in the league in total saves with 58 and third in the OVC in saves per match with a mark of 6.44.