NORFOLK, Neb. -- The Norfolk Panthers are off to their best start since 2006 under Head Coach Joe Myers.

“You can see how they’ve come together as a team,” Myers said. “They’ve started using the slogan ‘family’.”

One of the ways the team has bonded has been off the field, playing on a local team in Norfolk.

“That culture of being with each other outside kind of translates to the field," defender Tanner Eisenhauer said. "We’ve had that 10 [to] 12 years of experience playing with each other.”

 Junior midfielder Ethan Machuca said the team has grown along with the coaches

“He is a great mentor and he’s always there for us," Machuca said. "I feel like he’s a great support and just knows us best to put us in the best situations that we can do.”

After falling to Lincoln East 7-0 last Saturday, Coach Myers said his team continued with the mantra that has gotten them to an 8-2 record.

“We’re just focusing on one game at a time," Myers said. "That game, 24 hours later, was in the past. That’s what we did, we just put it in the past. We just said, ‘What’s the next challenge?'”

The next hurdle for the Panthers is Columbus on Thursday renewing a Highway 81 rivalry followed by Omaha Westside on Saturday before hosting the HAC tournament on Monday.