Men’s Soccer on the rise

JJ Bullock, Men's Soccer Reporter

On the outside looking in, the Eastern men’s soccer team’s 5-11-1 record may seem poor. But, the five-win finish for the Panthers is a sign of a program turning around.

The win-total for Eastern is the team’s highest since 2011 when they finished 7-9 and for second-year coach Kiki Lara and his young roster, things are looking up.

Not only did the Panthers set their highest win mark in five years, but seven of their 11 losses were by one-goal and were games that very easily could have gone either way.

Regardless, Eastern still earned a Summit League tournament bid after beating out Oral Roberts and Fort Wayne in a three-way tie for fourth place. The bid was certainly a well-earned and hard-fought one for the Panthers.

Just one month ago, the team was 2-9-1 and coming off a forgettable seven-game losing streak. At the time, a tournament bid looked like a long shot. However, the team battled back rattling off three straight wins, including two key conference wins and found themselves back in the tournament conversation.

However, for the program’s turnaround to continue, Eastern has to fix its offensive woes. They finished last in the Summit League in shots on goal (123) and second to last in goals (15). In a conference that flashes high-powered offenses like Fort Wayne, Denver and Omaha, the Panthers must follow suit in the coming years to continue their rise.

While the team struggled on offense this season, the main thing that kept them competitive and was their calling card all season long was their defensive prowess and identity. Eastern held nine of its opponents to one goal or less this season and was also keen on limiting shots on goal.

The most admirable thing about this team however, is they never played like a team that was struggling, even during their seven game losing streak. One of the ideals that Lara instills in his team is ‘grit’ and that is something the team displayed on almost every occasion this season, win or loss.

5-11-1 isn’t great, but given the context of the season and recent history of the program, five wins, a young roster, second-year coach and a conference tournament bid are a sign of good things to come for Eastern.

Of course Eastern will have a tough first-round test in Omaha, but the Panthers 2-0 loss was the final loss of the seven-game losing streak before going on to win three in a row to help send them to the Summit League Tournament.

Eastern proved to be a better team since then.

JJ Bullock can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]