Another men’s soccer season has come and gone, and this year proves the Panthers have a lot to look forward to in the future.

Eastern finished the season 6-8-3 overall, while going 2-6-1 in the conference, but the Panthers got some monkeys off their back.

For the first time in 10 matches, the Panthers were able to defeat Bradley. For the first time since 1986, the Panthers were able to get a point against Creighton and tied the Bluejays 0-0 on Oct. 24.

All of this happened with eight new players and a small 23-man roster.

The Panthers will graduate five seniors this year including midfielder Jim Adee, defender Nick Bonacker, defender Jeff Kupiec, defender Chris Pearson and midfielder Evan Philpott, but much of the team’s core will be returning next season.

Freshman forward Kyle Bullock and sophomore midfielder Jonathan Hinds led the team in goals this season with three, and both will be back next season.

Junior forward Alex Harrison was among the best in the nation with nine assists this season, and he will be back for his senior year.

Junior goalkeeper Sean Molony tied the Eastern record in the Missouri Valley Conference for shutouts. He will be back next season.

In fact, nine starters will be back for a team that was close to making the MVC Tournament in a deep conference with three teams being ranked nationally at some point during the season.

Freshman midfielder Jerry Maddi said he expects Eastern to make noise in the conference next season and I believe him.

The Missouri Valley Conference has switched to a round robin format so each team plays each other two times.

The players Eastern brought in this season had the opportunity to get two looks at each team.

They will know what it takes to get to the next level and how to win in an extremely tough conference. They will know the styles of the opponents and what to expect each time they take the field.

The Panthers also had a deep team this season as every player played at least 79 minutes. Eleven players scored at least one goal with 17 players notching an assist.

With an offseason to train, the players that contributed will have the opportunity to only get better. This Eastern team was picked to finish last in the conference by the coaches in the preseason. Instead, the Panthers were the only team in the conference to beat Missouri State, tied a perennial conference favorite and turned a lot of the coaches that picked them last head’s.

My guess is the Panthers won’t be picked to finish last next season.

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