The Eastern men’s soccer was picked to finish seventh in the Summit League in preseason polls released last week, and head coach Adam Howarth is upset with the team’s positioning, he said it’s not that big of a deal.

Eastern had a 1-4-1 record in the conference last season, its first year back in the Summit League after 14 years in the Missouri Valley Conference. Howarth said he expects better results because the Panthers are more familiar with opponents.

The only other team picked to finish lower than Eastern is Omaha, who won one match last season, compared to the Panthers who won seven.

The defending league champion, Western Illinois, were picked to finish first in the league polls, receiving five of eight first-place votes, despite being the team with the most newcomers on the roster this season.

Missouri-Kansas City, which finished with a 2-2-2 record in the league last year, was voted to second, while Oakland is picked to finish third.

Oral Roberts and Fort Wayne, both which tied for second place last season, are picked to finish fourth and sixth respectively.

Indiana University-Purdue University-Indianapolis is picked to finish fifth in the conference.

Eastern will play home games against the two top teams in the conference, Western Illinois and Missouri-Kansas City. The Panthers play Missouri-Kansas City at 1 p.m. Sept. 30 at Lakeside Field. Then, they’ll play Western Illinois at 3:30 p.m. Oct. 12.

The Panthers’ game against Oakland will be their last of the season at 7 p.m. Nov. 3 in Rochester, Mich.

Alex McNamee can be reached at 581-2812or admcnamee@eiu.edu.