For most of the players on Eastern’s men’s soccer team, practice started before they even stepped foot onto Lakeside Field.

Several of the players played with each other before putting on an Eastern jersey, giving them prior knowledge of how each other plays.

Freshman Jeff Diehl said there is a benefit to previously playing with some of his current teammates.

“It helped knowing it was bunch of guys from the same area,” Diehl said. “Most of the guys are all Chicagoland guys who are either rivals or are on the same team.”

The most recognizable group on the team is the five players who all come from the same Chicagoland traveling club team.

Sophomore Dustin Weiher and freshmen Diehl, Mike Sims, Matt Galanes and Alex Felten played for the Chicago Soccers during the spring and summer.

Galanes and Diehl are also roommates and took their Eastern tour at the same time.

“I came on my official visit with Matt and we both liked it,” Diehl said. “We both decided to go.”

Galanes said knowing a lot of the guys on the team made the transition to college a little easier.

“We all just knew each other,” Galanes said. “It’s a real good feeling knowing a set group of guys where you are going into a new environment.”

Eastern head coach Adam Howarth said his job has also changed a bit with the addition to several different groups of familiar players.

Players know each other’s playing styles and don’t need the extra time in practice getting to know each other.

“It makes my job a lot easier,” Howarth said. “It definitely helps from a team perspective. We just had a lot of guys who had played on the team and it was a good team.”

There are also several other connections going through the Panthers’ roster. Some players stem from the same high schools and some even transferred to Eastern together.

Freshman forward Brad Feige and Diehl played together at Jacobs High School in Algonquin. Freshmen Matt Feulner and Kyle Johnson also played together in high school at East High School in St. Charles.

Sophomores Vik Kaushal and Justin Ongaro transferred from conference rival Southern Methodist after one season. To make things more interesting, both are also natives of Canada.

Though Galanes is now surrounded by a lot of familiar people, he said he had alternative reasons for coming to Eastern.

“It was more like the campus and the team,” he said. “The (Missouri Valley) conference also played a big part.”

As for Howarth, he has no recruiting methods other than trying to see as many players as possible at showcase tournaments. He doesn’t look to any one team for its talent, and it was just coincidence for all these connections.

“It wasn’t anything on purpose,” Howarth said. “It seems like its been working out. Once we’ve got one person, it’s like a snowball effect.”