In 1982 the Eastern men’s soccer program played to a record of 12-3-5 and set a school record with five draws in a season. This year, in just five games played this season, the soccer team has had more games result in a draw than they have had in the last 25 years.

The Panthers have played to four draws already this season and currently hold a record of 1-0-4.

While a win would obviously be the preferred outcome for any team, two of the four teams the Panthers have tied this year are teams that beat Eastern last season, including one of the nation’s top teams in Western Michigan who the Panthers shut out in a 0-0 result last Friday.

In all four of their draws this season the Panthers have played excellent defense, shutting out Northern Kentucky and Western Michigan, in draws this season. Both of the other draws were 1-1 contests, played against Green Bay and Milwaukee.

Last season the Panthers tied Northern Kentucky 1-1, beat Green Bay 2-0 and lost to both Milwaukee and Western Michigan, 2-1 and 3-2, respectively.

“It’s better than a loss. We’ll take a tie,” Redshirt freshmen goalkeeper John Burke said. “We have been battling every game, so it’s kind of nice to come out with something that’s better than a loss and that’s all I can say about it.”

The ties have not been going over the heads of the Eastern athletes, they are taking the games and learning from them, taking note of development, who they played and what they did well in the draws.

“It’s better than a loss and we get a point from it,” Sophomore Alex Castaneda said. “Our defense has been really good to keep us in the games. It just kind of shows the improvement that we’ve had, defensively. We conceded a lot of goals last year, this year we have only conceded two in five games.”

All four of the draws have been tightly contested games until the very end, with neither team in any contest pulling away from its opponent.

Against Green Bay, the Panthers got a goal in the 83rd minute of the game from senior Zach Medawattage that gave Eastern their tying goal that sent the game into overtime.

Likewise, in the Milwaukee game, Milwaukee fired off four shots in the last five minutes of regulation, but the Eastern defense held strong, sending that game into overtime as well.

Western Michigan tallied seven shots to Eastern’s one in the first overtime of their tie, but Eastern lived up to its defensive reputation and held off the Broncos in that game.

Following suit of Eastern’s other opponents, Northern Kentucky and the Panthers exchanged blows for most of the game, putting offensive pressure on each other late in the game, but neither team crumpled.

“We are not giving up a loss, we’re fighting until the end pretty much, in overtime and everything,” Burke said.

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