Dirk Bennett News Today

October 6 is National Coaches Day. The News asked some Panther student athletes how their coaching staffs made an impact on them throughout their time at Eastern. From the football team, redshirt junior tight end Anthony Manaves thinks the tight ends coach, Jordan Walsh, has impacted him throughout his time playing for the Panthers. “My...

Multiple aspects go into the actual game for a team, and one of those aspects is fan attendance. Some Panther athletes think the fan attendance has helped their home performances. Football Head Coach Chris Wilkerson and the Panthers are currently 2-0 at O’Brien Field to start the 2023 season. After the Panthers beat the McNeese...

The Panthers look to continue their momentum from Sunday as they face Morehead State University eagles on Thursday. Eastern was able to win in their previous game against the Southeast Missouri State University (SEMO) Hawks on Sunday by a score of 2-0 after freshman forward Alex Tetteh scored a highlight reel goal off of an...

The EIU Panthers lost in their conference opener to the Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (SIUE) Cougars 2-1 at Lakeside Field on Thursday afternoon. The Panthers started off on top with a goal by fifth-year senior Zenaya Barnes at the 15:30 mark. This game also happens to back-to-back games with a goal for Barnes. “I give...

The Eastern Illinois women’s soccer team has officially wrapped up non-conference play as it will take on its first Ohio Valley Conference opponent, SIUE, Thursday at 1 p.m. at Lakeside Field. The Panthers are 1-4-2 overall and are on a two-game losing streak under first year head coach Dirk Bennett. One of the non-conference wins...

The EIU Panthers look to get back on track in the Ohio Valley Conference (OVC) after the loss to Chicago State. The Panthers have not played a game since Sept. 10th but are feeling good after the long break. “I think one of the things that you have to value is rest, and sometimes just...

Injuries are an unfortunate reality in the world of sports. Not many people know that more than Zenaya Barnes, a forward for the Eastern Illinois women’s soccer team. Barnes tore her ACL in her left knee in April 2022. Barnes was sidelined for 10 months and returned to action last spring. A normal ACL recovery...

Eastern lost an aggressive game to Chicago State 2-1 on Sunday afternoon at Lakeside Field. EIU was off to an early lead with a goal in the fourth minute by fifth-year forward Zenaya Barnes. Chicago State came back with two goals after the Panthers’ early lead. The first goal for the Cougars was scored by...

The Board of Trustees approved fiscal year ’24 budget and a view of the projected ‘25 budget during their meeting Friday afternoon.  Eastern’s projected FY24 state appropriation is $46,540,300, a 7% increase from the previous year, with a total of $167,848,900. The estimated change for FY25 is around an 8% increase. The Board approved all...

Eastern lost to Illinois State 1-0 on Thursday afternoon at Lakeside Field. “We didn’t have the greatest training session right before the game,” Head Coach Dirk Bennett said. “We transit that into the performance today, and we didn’t start as sharp as we wanted.” Bennett also said that the Panthers started the game slow. In...