Eastern men’s soccer team plays a tough non-conference schedule. The Panthers play nationally ranked teams in Northwestern and Ohio State. Then you add in perennial standout Western Illinois. Tough non-conference schedule indeed.

Which is why it is a good sign for the Panthers that the team has improved on every game since Eastern lost to Indianapolis 2-0 in the team’s final preseason game.

The next contest for the Panthers was a 4-3 victory for the underclassmen over the upperclassmen in the team’s Intrasquad Match.

Even in the Panthers 2-1 loss Friday against Valparaiso, Eastern coach Adam Howarth was optimistic about the team’s effort and attitude.

“The effort was very good, the guys played very hard,” Howarth said. “We made a couple of mental mistakes on defense through the whole 90 minutes, but we had a much improved effort from the Intrasquad Match.”

The Panthers carried that effort into a 3-2 victory Sunday at Lakeside Field against Missouri- Kansas City. The Panthers lit up the scoreboard with two second half goals and put pressure on Kangaroos’ sophomore goalkeeper Ken Cooper with eight shots on goal. After the victory, senior midfielder Mike Lewis said the game was the Panthers best so far this year.

“It’s a whole team effort,” Lewis said. “We are slowly coming together as the season goes on. We are getting the freshmen involved, and everyone is coming together as one.”

The Panthers have not won a Missouri Valley Conference crown since entering the league in 1996.

However, the combination of a team continuing to improve every time it touches the field, a non-conference schedule that will challenge and motivate Panthers and a lineup of players that includes 12 upperclassmen that understand how to win in both conference and non-conference play is a good one, and this could be the year the Panthers finally finish on top of the MVC.

Dan Cusack can be reached at 581-7944 or at dscusack@eiu.edu.