Eastern men's soccer begins 2025 season with new culture

When Ruy Vaz signed the contract to become the 12th head coach in Eastern men’s soccer program history in February, he had a lot of work to do.

After all, he only retained eight players from the 2024 season.

Vaz had to recruit 25 new players to fill out the squad ahead of the Panthers’ 2025 season opener at Northwestern University.

Getting that many new players to gel together as a team is a challenge that Vaz says is nothing new. He’s used to it from his days as a head coach at the Junior College level for Cowley College.

“It was a big jump for me,” Vaz said. “I think the challenge to try to turn things around, to bring a new culture and create something special really moved me to come here.”

The exodus of players from last season was caused by the team’s last place finish in the Ohio Valley Conference standings and subsequent departure of former head coach Josh Oakley.

Eastern’s record in 2024 was 2-12-2. The Panthers picked up four points during conference play, and despite having an opportunity to still make it into the OVC tournament on the final day of the regular season, a 3-0 loss to Southern Illinois University Edwardsville confirmed the team’s elimination from the postseason.

Oakley left the program during the offseason, citing frustration as he coached without the help of a full-time assistant coach. Vaz says that Eastern is in the process of hiring of a full-time assistant coach this year.

Vaz’s first goal once he got the job was to change the culture and bring more stability to the program by building a family atmosphere amongst the players. He says the collective pursuit of excellence is more enjoyable when it happens within a family culture.

“Having this culture in which people really care about the program and care about the colors, while at the same time competing and fighting to get better is a non-negotiable for us,” Vaz said.

In his six years at Cowley College, Vaz won 110 games and five conference championships. Cowley College made six appearances in the National Junior College Athletic Association tournament and made it to two final fours and one national championship in 2024 during his tenure.

Vaz says he wants the new identity of the program to be a team that plays intense, possession-based soccer. Throughout preseason, the team has experienced different scenarios that are intended for a more intense and aggressive approach.

“If [the style of play] is not intense, or if it’s not aggressive, you’re not going to be able to compete at this level,” Vaz said.

Senior midfielder Yuki Nakamura was named as an OVC player to watch. Transferring into Eastern from Georgia State University, Nakamura played at Cowley under Vaz for two seasons in 2022 and 2023. He made 33 starts across the 35 games he appeared in for Vaz, and the two are now reunited.

It was a challenge for Eastern to schedule home non-conference games, according to Vaz, and as a result Eastern doesn’t play a home game until Oct. 2. The Panthers play six non-conference games away from home before the first OVC game against Western Illinois on Sept. 27 in Macomb.

The Panthers open the season Thursday against Northwestern. Kickoff is at 6:30 p.m.

Gabe Newman can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected].