Conference play proved difficult for the Panthers in 2017, when they finished in last place in the Ohio Valley Conference. 

With the conference season coming back on Sept. 14, the team is looking to improve and gain experience in the coming weeks. 

“We as a staff want the girls to be able to play without fear and to express themselves as soccer players,” said head coach Jake Plant. This is only one of his goals for getting the team ready to compete in conference. 

“There are some areas that we are focusing on heavily in practice,” Plant said. “Quality repetitions from this focused group will give us the best chance of hitting the ground running when it comes to OVC play.”

Their first conference opponent will be Morehead State, who finished just above the Panthers in the OVC last season. 

The Eagles are 1-1 so far in 2018, beating Akron to open the season and then losing to Pitt in double-overtime two days later. 

Senior Cara Maher and junior Morgan Treser look to continue where they left off last season, when they tied for the team lead with three goals. 

Next up for the Panthers is Eastern Kentucky on Sept. 16. Eastern Kentucky finished third in the OVC in 2017 and are also 1-1 this season. 

The team’s two top scorers have graduated, leaving senior Bailly Bounds as the highest scoring returning player. 

The Panthers will then play four conference games in a row at home. The first game of the homestand will be on Sept. 21 against reigning OVC champion Murray State. 

Murray State was 15-2-2 last season, with a conference record of 8-0-2. They will be without Harriet Withers, whose 12 goals last season were the most by any player in the OVC. 

Rebecca Kubin will be back after scoring seven goals last year as a freshman, tied for fifth most in the conference. 

Austin Peay comes to Lakeside Field on Sept. 23. They are off to a 2-0 start to 2018, having beaten Middle Tennessee and Evansville without allowing a goal. 

The following weekend the Panthers will host Belmont and Tennessee- Martin, before travelling to Edwardsville to face Southern Illinois Edwardsville on Oct. 7. 

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville dropped their opener to Kentucky in Lexington. In 2017, they finished seventh in the OVC, with one of their losses coming to Eastern. 

The Panthers’ last home conference game comes on Oct. 11 against Southeast Missouri. The Redhawks have their best player coming back, Esmie Gonzalez. She was fourth in the OVC with eight goals last season. 

An Oct. 13 game against Fort Wayne gives Eastern a respite from conference play before they face Jacksonville State and Tennessee Tech to finish the season. 

Jacksonville State was 3-7 in conference play last year but are already 2-0 in 2018. They beat Jackson State 7-0 on Aug. 19. Claire Peterson and Chloe Doherty each scored twice in that win. Peterson scored twice all of last season, and Doherty did not score at all as a freshman.

The final game of the regular season will be on Oct. 21 against Tennessee Tech, who finished second in the OVC last year. They also bring back their top scorer from a year ago, Kendall Powell.

With six games until the conference opener, the Panthers will try to prepare as well as they can. 

Plant wants the team to enjoy playing an “attacking style of soccer.”

He hopes this style of play leads the Panthers to a successful conference season. 

Adam Tumino can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected]