Eastern women’s soccer head coach Tim Nowak didn’t expect his team to be 0-8-1 entering Ohio Valley Conference play.

No coach enters a season expecting mediocre results, or if they do, they don’t say it in public.

But despite the Panthers’ record Nowak has stayed positive throughout the season thus far.

That may seem crazy, but he has a point.

Nowak kept stressing Eastern’s tough non-conference matches would prepare his team for Ohio Valley Conference play.

As loss after loss piled up, Nowak would say he saw his team getting better in different aspects each match and he said he believed they’re on the right track.

Again, he has a point.

The Panthers have lost a number of winnable matches.

They usually play solid defense and give their forwards a number of opportunities to score.

Unfortunately, that strategy hasn’t worked for the Panthers this season.

The team simply hasn’t been able to take advantage of offensive opportunities, and when they miss out on those opportunities, no matter how good their defense can play, they’re bound to have a breakdown eventually.

But despite these breakdowns and despite the fact that the Panthers have only scored one goal through nine matches, Nowak, and the team, stay positive; saying it’s all about preparing for OVC play.

OVC play begins Friday, so it’s time for the Panthers to win.

It’s time for the tough non-conference play and the improvements the team has made to pay off.

There are no more warm-up matches on the Panthers’ schedule. Eastern needs a win, and it needs a win now.

The Panthers’ program isn’t accustomed to losing like this.

Since the program started 13 years ago, they’ve only had 10 or more losses three times: 1995, 2005 and last season.

So it’s up to Nowak and the team to get on track this weekend.

Tennessee Martin and Murray State are not pushovers, but they’re definitely beatable teams.

Nowak’s a good coach, and the idea to schedule as many tough, non-conference matches as he has done is a risky move.

While it builds a team and prepares them for conference play, losing like they have can wear on a team mentally.

Talking to players, it doesn’t appear that’s the case, and that’s a credit to Nowak.

“We’re 0-0 now,” Nowak said after the team’s most recent loss, a 2-0 decision at Western Illinois.

That’s a great mindset to have. Winning an OVC Championship is the most important thing in dictating success, and despite the record, this team has a chance to do just that.

But the time to prove it is now.

Collin Whitchurch can be reached at 581-7944 or at [email protected].