The Eastern men’s soccer team will play their first home game of the season Saturday at 1 p.m. when they host Wright State at Lake Side Field.

Eastern has played their last four games on the road and are excited to be back home.

“We’re definitely hyped. It does not get any better than our first regular season home game in front of all our fans,” sophomore goalkeeper Mike Novotny said.

With a win, the Panthers can reach their win total from last season as they are 2-2 on the young season.

The Panthers are coming off a 2-1 win against Robert Morris on Sunday.

“Even though it is early on in the season, I can already tell that we have a resilient group of guys that are really trying to do their part and are concentrating on getting the most out of the system of play that Coach Lara has put in,” senior captain Kyle Callender said.

The Panthers have recorded a couple of wins to start the season but know they have to focus on one game at a time.

“We try not to read into our record too much,” coach Kiki Lara said. “We just concentrate on getting better every single day, and once the season is over then we can reflect on all of that.”

Wright State will be a big test for the Panthers as the Raiders are coming off of a win over a talented Cincinnati squad who recently handed the Panthers an 8-0 loss in an exhibition game on Aug. 16.

Sophomore Dominic Recca said that the team knows that Wright State cannot be taken lightly.

“We believe if we play our system then we can compete with any program, and that won’t change with Wright State,” Recca said.

The home crowd will certainly play a factor, but Coach Lara stressed that it cannot change the play of his team.

“If this team is growing then it shouldn’t have much of an impact on our play. It will definitely be exciting, but we have to have a similar product no matter where we are,” Lara said.

The game should be a physical matchup between both sides as the Panthers look to give Coach Lara his first home win.

“I believe very firmly in preparation,” Lara said. “If we are prepared and don’t cram everything into one or two days then there is no reason we should not be successful.”

Novotny said the team’s goal for every game is to outwork their opponent for the full 90 minutes and if they are able to do that, they will get a good result.

Maher Kawash can be reached at 581-2812 or mwkawash@eiu.edu