Live Stats Wednesday & Sunday | SXU MSoccer

CHARLESTON, Ill. – Eastern Illinois men's soccer has reported for its preseason training camp, opening practice Monday morning and getting its exhibition season underway quickly with a friendly against Saint Xavier Wednesday at 5 p.m.

 

The 2010 edition of the Panthers were all on campus together for the first time on Sunday (Aug. 15).

 

Along with Wednesday's exhibition game against SXU, the team is also slated to hold its annual intrasquad game at 5 p.m. Sunday (Aug. 22). Kickoff for the intrasquad, which features the EIU underclassmen taking on the upperclassmen, has been moved up an hour to 5 p.m. Head coach Adam Howarth said he planned to have prizes such as T-shirts and soccer balls available for area youth and EIU students in attendance. The team will be signing 2010 schedule posters after the game as well.

 

Also on tap this week is Tuesday's release of the Missouri Valley Conference preseason coaches poll and preseason all-conference team. The Panthers play their 15th and final season in the Valley this fall before moving to The Summit League (formerly the Mid-Continent Conference) in time for next season. With Central Arkansas and SIU Edwardsville joining EIU as Valley affiliates this fall, there will be eight teams in the conference standings. The top six will qualify for the MVC Tournament, set for Nov. 10-14 at Bradley's Shea Stadium in Peoria.

 

Eastern's coaching staff has undergone some late-summer changes. Assistant and alumnus Dino Raso, who has been Howarth's staff since 2005, recently accepted the head coach position at Oakland City University in Oakland City, Ind. >>> More info on Raso's new position.

Mark Hansen has been elevated from a student assistant to a standard assistant coach for the 2010 campaign. Fellow alum Evan Philpott, who closed out his EIU career last fall, is expected to help out as a student assistant.

 

Not only does EIU's exhibition schedule begin quickly but also features four events prior to the Sept. 3 regular-season opener at Kentucky. The Panthers travel to Indianapolis to take on Butler Aug. 24 and host Green Bay at noon on Saturday, Aug. 28. This Saturday (Aug. 21) a number of former men's soccer players are expected to return to Charleston for the annual alumni golf outing and game.

 

Eastern has played Saint Xavier is an exhibition friendly each of the last two falls. The Panthers were a 1-0 winner at Lakeside Field in 2008 and defeated the Cougars, 3-2, in Effingham a year ago. Alex Harrison and Kendal Spurgin each scored in last year's win. Saint Xavier is an NAIA school based in the Mount Greenwood neighborhood of Chicago's South Side.

The Panthers are scheduled to have their team picture taken Thursday morning.