The score was tied 1-1 in overtime when freshman forward Alex Harrison took a pass from junior forward Brad Peters and kicked the ball in for the score and the win against Belmont last Friday.

This was the first game of the regular season and Harrison’s first goal for the Panthers.

Harrison said he thought it surprised some people because after the game a few guys from the team were giving him high fives and freshmen don’t normally score right away.

“I don’t look at myself as just a freshman though, I am just another guy on the team,” Harrison said.

Head coach Adam Howarth said he thinks it was a great way for Harrison to start the season, but the goal didn’t come as that much of a surprise to him.

“I think he is definitely a goal scorer, and he definitely has the ability to put the ball in the back of the net, so he has as good a shot as anybody on the team to make those plays, even as a freshman,” Howarth said

Being a freshman is not the only thing that may set Harrison apart from the majority of the team.

Harrison is one of the three men on Eastern’s team this year from England.

Sophomore Chris Pearson played with Harrison at Gateshead (a college in England) for the 2005-2006 season where they helped lead their team to the ECFA national championship.

Harrison said that in England after you go through three years of high school you can decide if you want to stay in the high school for a few more years or if you want to go to college.

“I chose to go to college at Gateshead because it is more of like what I am doing here and it helped train me and get me ready,” Harrison said.

While at Gateshead Harrison earned a BTEC national diploma in sports science and two different coaching badges in soccer.

Harrison said he is pursing a major in physical education.

He said the adjustment was a little hard at first but that it definitely helped that there were other people that had to go through the same things.

Howarth came to visit Harrison over Christmas break of last year and arranged a meeting between Harrison, Pearson and Mick Galeski, a senior on the team this year also from England.

“I just felt like I was walking into somewhere that I knew a lot more about then other schools, and having two other English lads on the team from similar backgrounds was very nice and helped me to settle in,” Harrison said.

A big difference Harrison noticed between here and Newcastle is at home he always had something to do.

“Newcastle is one of the biggest party cities in the world and people go out everyday, and the drinking age is only 18 there so going out to bars and clubs happens all the time,” Harrison said.

Harrison said that Charleston is good for keeping him from going out all the time and staying focused on soccer.

Harrison said that in Newcastle a lot of his friends did not play soccer so they would want to go out all the time, even when he had practice the next day.

“Here, I always hang out with guys from the team so we all know we can’t go out and we are so busy that we really don’t have the time, and that discipline is good for me,” Harrison said.

Harrison said he has to focus even more out on the field because Howarth has changed his position up a little bit from what he is used to.

Harrison is still playing forward, but Howarth has pulled him back a little just behind the other striker.

“It is sort of two jobs, like the forward still but a little bit of midfield and it was a tough adjustment, but I like the challenge” Harrison said.

Howarth said he thinks the new position helps the team and suits Harrison a little more.

“Adam has good vision and footwork skills, and he seems to be adapting well to it,” Howarth said.