It was an up and down year for the Panthers. Almost like a teeter-totter.

Nine players tallied goals for the Panthers, but Eastern failed to reach the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament Finals in program history, finishing with an 8-7-5 overall record (4-1-4 OVC).

“That’s remarkable,” said Eastern head coach Tim Nowak about nine players scoring. “It shows that a lot of people know how to put the ball in the goal.”

The Panthers lost four games in a row during the non-conference season (Sept. 8, 10, 15 and 17), but won three in a row (Oct. 22, 26 and 31) near the end of the season.

The five ties tied a program record in 2003, but four of the ties came in the conference season.

“We missed some opportunities to win some games,” Nowak said. “You have to give the opponent credit for that. They did a good job of defending us.”

There were eight freshmen on the team, and the team returned only four starters entering the year.

The freshman class proved themselves out on the field. Defender AJ Brewer was named first team all-conference and goalkeeper Jenny Williams was named to the all-conference newcomer team.

Williams was in goal for 1,842 minutes and 48 seconds this season.

She is already sixth on the career list for career minutes in goal.

“A lot of (the freshmen) came on late in the year and did well in key times,” Nowak said. “As long as they don’t get ahead of themselves and realize they had a good freshman year and to have a good sophomore year and stay focused.”

Freshmen accounted for four goals this year and accounted for eight of the twenty-one assists.

“(Having so many freshmen) bodes well for the future of the program,” Nowak said.

Freshman midfielder Alexis Miller and sophomore midfielder Jenny Bock were named to the all-tournament Team as well.

“Jenny and Alexis were outstanding during the semifinal,” Nowak said.

The freshmen class brought another aspect to this team off the field.

“From day one everyone enjoyed being around each other,” Nowak said. “We recruit the kind of people we want to be around. The freshmen definitely had a lot of energy and I think the players fed off of that.”

Eastern will only lose four seniors to graduation and the most experienced of those players is senior midfielder Trisha Walter.

Walter was named second team all-conference, and also had been on the first team in 2003 and the second team in 2004.

“Trisha did an outstanding job with the role she was given,” Nowak said. “She was always the younger player to those older players. When it was her time, she showed her maturity and her desire to be a leader.”

Walter started all 20 games this season and ranks sixth on the all-time career goals list with nineteen.

Eastern will return 10 of its 11 starters next year.

“It’s good and bad,” Nowak said. “If the players decide to be complacent and think that they are going to come back and they’re automatically going to be starters, they’re probably going to be in for a surprise.”

Another accolade for the Panthers this year was something that was not expected. Junior forward Kellie Floyd had a breakout year. Floyd had scored only two goals before her junior season. This season, she scored four goals to go along with five assists.

“Kellie’s grown into a good goal scorer,” Nowak said.

For her efforts, Floyd was named 2006 OVC Co-Player of the Year with Samford’s Sharon Young.

“It’s a great honor,” Floyd said.

She said it reflects more on the team and how hard they’ve worked this season.

The team will use the off-season to prepare for next year. Nowak said the team will do the normal things, such as lifting weights and having off-season conditioning.

The 1-0 loss against Morehead State on Friday at Bulldog Soccer Field in Birmingham, Ala., that ended the team’s season will try not to remain in their heads, Floyd said.

“You never know when you’re last game is going to be,” she said.

For an Eastern team that had made the OVC Championship every year since joining the league in 1998, it came sooner than they had wanted to. But the season, minus the end result went like Nowak thought it would.

“We had the ups and downs I probably expected,” he said.