On any given day when the Eastern men’s soccer team takes the field, there is an expectation that the team’s defense will perform at a high level and keep the Panthers completive in almost every situation. Which it does, as the Panthers are rarely blown out and finish most of their games in tight defensive battles.

However, Eastern’s defense has set it up for an opportunity to take a jump forward in their developmental process, but the offense must close the gap between itself and the play of the defense. And the team is confident that jump will happen this season.

Last weekend, the Panthers opened up their regular season by tying Milwaukee and Green Bay, in defensive shootouts on the road, 1-1 both games. Both contests were games that the Panthers expected to win heading into the weekend, and both matchups on paper supported that expectation.

Defensively, the Panthers held up their end of the bargain, they held Green Bay to just 14 shots (four on goal) and Milwaukee had more shots with 28 (11 on goal), but they were backed up by a 10 save performance by goalkeeper Mike Novotny.

On offense however, the Panther were outshot in both matches, shooting just eight shots (three on goal) against Green Bay and six shots (three on goal).

The stats might not be telling the whole story however, head coach Kiki Lara believes that even though the goals did not fall in this weekend, that the team continued to develop on offense and show positive signs.

“There are areas of the attack we performed very well,” Lara said. “Other areas we need to continue to develop, but we are very positive about that development. In certain areas of the field we grew very much in that attacking side of the game Sunday.”

Last season the Panthers were second to last in the Summit League with just 16 goals scored and .89 goal per game. If the Panthers can improve on these numbers, which they expect to do, and just move to the middle of the pack offensively, then the improved offense paired with the team’s above average offense could help the Panthers see a significant improvement on the 5-12-1 record they had last year.

With young players like sophomores Alex Castaneda and Jonathan Huerta, who were the leading scorers on last years team, returning to the offense, the prospects for the team’s improvement of offense in the coming years looks high.

JJ Bullock can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]