Eastern’s men’s soccer team’s season opener promises to answer the question of what is better, offense or defense?

A year ago, the Panthers were 12-6-1 and finished 11th in the nation, scoring 2.53 goals per game. On the flip side of the coin, Eastern’s opponent, Saint Louis, was ninth in the nation, allowing just 0.82 goals per game.

“They are going to be a very good team,” Eastern head coach Adam Howarth said. “They are ranked 13th nationally, have two preseason All-Americans and are picked to win Conference USA.”

Eastern is planning to stick with its strengths and will put a lot of pressure on the Saint Louis defense.

“We are going to go into the game with all guns firing,” Howarth said.

The Billikens will enter the game as the favorites, but that is alright Howarth.

“Being the underdog is fine by me,” he said. “We have nothing to lose and we are definitely capable of playing in their company.”

Howarth said the key to the game will be at midfield.

“Our midfielders need to win the battle,” he said. “If we can win at midfield then maybe we can get our forwards loose and have some chances to make some plays.”

The Panthers are expecting to play in front of a large crowd at Saturday night’s televised game.

“They had about 4,000 people at their last preseason exhibition,” Howarth said. “It will be a nice opportunity for us to play in front of a crowd that size.”

Eastern will head into the game with a .500 exhibition record. The team lost to Southern Illinois University atEdwardsville 2-1 and defeated DePaul 2-0.

After Saturday’s Eastern will travel to Loyola Tuesday.