After finishing in sixth place of seven teams in the Missouri Valley Conference last season, the Eastern men’s soccer team has higher expectations this season.

“The Missouri Valley Conference has been on our minds all season,” said Eastern freshman Darby Kehoe. “We think this will be the season.”

The MVC is competitive year in and year out. The league is loaded with good teams, as 5-of-7 league teams are ranked in top 10 in the Midwest Region by the National Soccer Coaches Association of America.

Creighton is even ranked nationally by the NSCAA.

Junior defender Adam Gartner set lofty goals for the Panthers in the MVC this season.

“Our goal this season is to win it all,” Gartner said

Gartner said the non-conference schedule is a reason the Panthers may succeed and win the title for the first time since Eastern joined the conference in 1996.

“We have played tough so far this season,” Gartner said. “We have played good teams and prepared for a tough conference schedule. We are well prepared.”

The Panthers non-conference schedule has included such opponents as Missouri-Kansas City, Alabama-Birmingham, Loyola (Chicago), Western Illinois and Kentucky.

Eastern comes into conference play sitting at the top in the standings with a (8-2-2) record, although they are not the favorites.

In a preseason poll conducted by coaches, Creighton was picked as the favorite to win the conference receiving five of a possible seven first place votes. Bradley was picked to finish second with one first place vote, while Eastern was picked to finish third.

Bradley and Creighton tied for the first place crown last season with a 4-1-1 record.

Creighton went on to defeat Bradley in overtime 2-1 in the 2006 State Farm MVC Championship game of the MVC conference tournament in Peoria.

Eastern will play Creighton on the road at 7 p.m. on Oct. 13, and Bradley at 2 p.m. on Nov. 3 at home.

The Panthers entered the MVC last season (8-2-0) but finished (11-7-2) overall after a conference record of (1-3-2).

Creighton enters conference play leading the league by only allowing nine goals in nine games.

The Panthers have been equally impressive, allowing 10 goals in 12 games leading the MVC in goals against average. The Panthers are also leading the league with seven shutouts.

Eastern teammates junior forward Brad Peters and senior midfielder Mick Galeski sit atop the league in points with 17 and 16 respectively.

Peters leads the league with six goals. Galeski, with five goals, is tied for second with Evansville’s Ian McCauley and Bradley’s Chris Cutshaw.

Eastern head coach Adam Howarth is confident his team is ready. Howarth said last week’s games against Valparaiso and UAB would be a good test to see where his team was at.

The Panthers went 1-0-1 after recording their seventh shutout of the season against Valparaiso Sunday at Lakeside Field.

If the Panthers can continue their success they have exhibited so far this season, a top seed in the MVC tournament on Nov. 14 and the program’s first MVC regular season title.

Team Capsules

Eastern Illinois

Location: Charleston

Record: 7-2-2

2006 MVC record: 1-3-2 (Sixth place)

Key players: Junior forward Brad Peters, senior midfielder Mick Galeski, junior defender Adam Gartner

Head Coach Adam Howarth (Ninth season)

Creighton

Location: Omaha, Neb.

Record: 5-1-3

2006 MVC record: 4-1-1 (tied first place)

Key players: Junior forward Andrei Gotsmanov, senior goalkeeper Matt Allen

Head Coach Bob Warming (30th season)

Match vs. EIU: Oct. 13 at Creighton

Drake

Location: Des Moines, Iowa

Record 7-3-1

2006 MVC record: 2-1-3 (4th place)

Key players: Sophomore midfielder Kevin Shrout, Senior Luke Frieberg, senior Ryan Moylan

Head Coach Sean Holmes (10th season)

Match vs. EIU: Oct. 10 at EIU

Bradley

Location: Peoria

Record 6-3-1

2006 MVC Record: 4-1-1 (Tied First place)

Key players: Sophomore forward Chris Cutshaw, sophomore midfielder Grant Campell, senior defender Joe Donoho

Head Coach Jim DeRose (12th season)

Match vs. EIU: Nov. 3 at EIU

Evansville

Location: Evansville, Ind.

Record 6-4-0

2006 MVC Record: 2-4-0 (Fifth place)

Key players: Senior forward Ian McAuley, junior goalkeeper Alec Dufty, senior midfielder/foward Cory Elenio

Head Coach Mike Jacobs (1st season)

Match vs. EIU: Oct. 20 at Evansville

Missouri State

Location: Springfield, Mo.

Record 4-6-1

2006 MVC record: 3-2-1 (Third place)

Key players: Senior forward Ryan Anderson, senior goalkeeper Lance Parker

Head Coach Jon Leamy (15th season)

Match vs. EIU: Oct. 17 at EIU

Western Kentucky

Location: Bowling Green, Ky.

Record 1-7-3

2006 MVC record: 0-4-2 (Seventh place)

Key players: Freshman forward Ben Backstrom, sophomore forward Andy Masteller, junior midfielder/forward Dustin Downey

Head Coach David Holmes (23rd season)

Match vs. EIU: Oct. 27 at Western Kentucky