Coming off a season where the Eastern Illinois men’s soccer team won just three games, the team had a chip on their shoulder to become a more competitive team this season.

But this season has been more of the same.

Things have not particularly gone as planned for the Panthers as they hold a .222 win percentage with a 2-7 record on the year.

“We believe that we could have won three of our last five games against Oral Roberts, NIU, and Wright state,” sophomore forward Justin Oliver said. “We’ve just been struggling to find the back of the net, but the chances have been there.”

The team started the season on the right note as they began the year at 2-2, but have since then fallen into a cold streak of losing five straight games.

This is something the team is all too familiar with as they began last year similarly by winning their second game early in September, but went on to lose 11 of their last 13 games.

“Unfortunately, rough patches are one of those things you kind of have to prepare for and adjust to,” senior captain Kyle Callender said. “Don’t get me wrong we all want to win, but our team is on a different schedule than everyone else.”

This season was supposed to be different with many freshman coming on board, and with the tactical strategies of first year head coach Kiki Lara.

With that being said, the team has certainly had some bright spots on the year as they continue to rebuild.

Sophomore forwards Justin Oliver and Tyler Oliver have emerged as key parts of the team’s success as they have both scored or assisted on a goal in both of the team’s wins this season.

This Panthers squad is loaded with young talent, and many underclassmen on the team are stepping into key moments of the game throughout the year.

Lara has stressed to his team that winning will not come easy, especially at this level of Division-1 soccer.

“We just need to stay steady,” Lara said.

Although, the Panthers are enduring a rough losing streak right now, it is clear that their confidence is still there.

“We are confident with our progress up until now, and are just trying to improve every day,” Callender said. “We believe in ourselves, and our system, and if we keep improving the results will start to come too.”

The Panthers will attempt to end this losing streak, as well as earn their first conference win of the season when they take on IPFW in Fort Wayne, Ind. on Saturday.

Maher Kawash can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]