Men’s soccer has had plenty of success this season.

One of the reasons for this success is junior forward Brad Peters and senior midfielder Mick Galeski.

The two players have been so accomplished, they may battle each other for the title of Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year at the end of the season.

The two teammates constantly stay after practice, working on shooting and passing.

Peters and Galeski set up at the top of the box and fire shots at the net until they run out of balls after nearly every practice.

This extra practice has paid off.

The teammates are all across the Missouri Valley Conference offensive statistics and are both putting up career-high years.

Peters has already tied his career-high of goals in a season with 11, and one regular season match still remains against Ashbury College – and the MVC Conference Tournament is yet to be played.

The St. Peters, Mo., native has scored eight goals in his last nine matches, while five of the goals have been in MVC conference matches.

Galeski has been named MVC offensive player of the week three times this year, including winning the award again last week for his play in the victory against Western Kentucky. He leads the MVC in assists (11) and has already surpassed his season total from the 2006 season, when he notches seven assists.

Galeski’s 11 assists are more than any other Panther player has recorded in a season during the team’s 12 years in the MVC.

Galeski is also second in the MVC in goals (7) and only trails Peters in goals by four.

The two players are No. 1 and 2, respectively, in points at 28 and 25, with Peters barely edging out Galeski.

Both have impressive résumés so far and look to lead the Panthers in the MVC Tournament.

With seasons like this, it could be argued they might not only be battling for the conference title, but are also battling each other for MVC Conference Player of the Year.

Teams have to account for both players at all-times during matches, and both have benefited from playing with each other.

Of Galeski’s 11 assists, seven have been to Peters.

Both players have been the catalysts of the Panther offense all season. Galeski has controlled the midfield as a senior and leader of the Panthers.

Peters has become the most potent offensive weapon in the MVC and has continued to play successfully, even though teams have begun to key on him and are making game plans to try to stop him from finding the back of the net.

While the battle for MVC Player of the year rages on, and Peters has the slim the advantage against Galeski in points, the men’s soccer teams performance would be greatly diminished if the two were not playing together.