The Eastern men’s soccer team will be young no matter what combination of 11 players head coach Adam Howarth puts on the field each game this season.

Underclassmen come by the truckload this season — 19 players on the Panthers’ 23-man roster are red-shirt sophomores or younger, including nine freshmen and two red-shirt freshmen.

But youth doesn’t come with inexperience for some on the Panthers’ roster.

Sophomores Will Butler and Jake Brillhart return as two of the Panthers’ top three scorers from last season.

Butler finished the season with three goals and five assists, while Brillhart scored a team-high four goals.

Underclassmen scored every goal during the Panthers’ preseason, including red-shirt sophomore Brandon Loncar and freshman Nick Smith.

Red-shirt freshman Garet Christianson will also see more time this season. He was one of the Panthers’ top scorers last year with three goals, and he did it in only six games.

However, the team won’t be complete without good senior leadership, Howarth said.

Seniors Evan Turner and Ian McCausland will have to take leadership roles for the Panthers, Howarth said.

Both players have important positional roles on the team with Mc Causland as a midfielder and Turner as the starting goalkeeper.

Turner is entering the season as the top goalkeeper after sharing time with Tyler Kelley in goal last season.

Jordan Collins is the only other senior on the roster, while Jake Plant is the only junior.

Howarth said he expects the youngsters to grow up fast, though.

“Half way through the season those freshmen are practically sophomores anyway,” Howarth said.

One of the goals of the preseason was to get those young players time on the field to get ready for the regular season.

Howarth said he has been working on putting together three different starting lineups for the team this season.

The Panthers’ first game is Friday against Bradley at 6 p.m. in Peoria. The team’s first home game will be at 4:30 p.m. Sept. 14 against Central Arkansas.

Alex McNamee can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].