Eastern Illinois men's soccer head coach Ruy Vaz has announced the addition of 12 new players that will be joining the Panthers roster for the upcoming 2026 season.

The group includes a mixture of four-year transfers, junior college and high school players that will mesh with the Panthers current roster that played through the spring.

Joining the Panthers in the class are Pedro Arthur Albuquerque, Marcos Ayelo, Carmelo Bello, Lucas Comitre, Keidin Green, Bernardo Hanel, Sein Hatamoto, Shuto Ishikawa, Owen Johnson, Santiago Montoya, Kai Odagiri and Joao Peres.

EIU opens its exhibition season on August 9 hosting Lewis & Clark Community College with the regular season opener on the road on August 20 at Omaha.  The regular season home opener at Lakeside Field will be Thursday, August 27 against Wright State.

Listed below are bios in each of the 12 incoming athletes…
 
Pedro Arthur Albuquerque (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) played the last two seasons at Monroe University in the Bronx, New York… played in four matches during the 2025 season after playing in two matches during the 2024 campaign… was a member of a team that reached the semifinals of the NJCAA East District Tournament… was named a third team NJCAA All-Academic selection as a sophomore… finished high school playing career at Montverde Academy in Orlando, Florida playing for coach Kevin Varnardo… earned the Eagles Award…

Marcos Ayelo (Alicante, Spain) played the last two seasons at Maryville University in St. Louis…  as a junior helped lead the team to the GLVC Tournament Championship as they advanced to the NCAA Division II Tournament falling in the first round on penalty kicks...  helped the team win 12 matches making 13 starts with 20 total appearances…  scored seven goals with one assist finishing second on the team in both goals scored and total points… had a two goal match during the season against Missouri St. Louis before scoring in the GLVC Tournament Championship match and NCAA Tournament contest… played in all 20 matches during the 2024 season with 12 starts… had one assist against Quincy… helped team reach NCAA Tournament first round finishing with 11 wins… was an All-Academic selection…  played 2023 freshman season at NCAA Division II Salem University in West Virginia… appeared in all 17 matches with one shot on goal for the year… played at the prep level for coach Oscar Diaz at ÍES Antonio Navarro SANTAFE… served as team captain in final two seasons…

Carmelo Bello (Madrid, Spain) played the 2025 season at Monroe University in the Bronx, New York earning second team NJCAA All-America honors… appeared in 13 matches making nine starts… finished with 13 total points scoring six goals with one assist… recorded a two goal match during the season against CCBC Essex… helped team post seven wins ending the season in the East District Tournament semifinals… played freshman season for current EIU head coach Ruy Vaz at Cowley College in Kansas… appeared in 21 matches with eight starts on a team that finished as the NJCAA National Runner-Up with 16 wins… scored nine goals with four assists including a two-goal match against Kansas City Kansas CC… earned first team All-KJCCC honors… played at the prep level at ÍES Gonzalo Chacón…

Lucas Comitre (São Paulo, Brazil) played two seasons at Neosho County CC in Kansas… started all 43 matches over two seasons… in 2025 made 20 starts finishing with one goal and one assist scoring the goal against Patrick & Henry CC… in 2024 made 23 starts ending season with three goals and two assists… registered both a goal and assist in win over Southeast CC… earned first team All-Region honors as a defender in 2025… helped team win 15 matches in 2025 as they advanced to the NJCAA Division II National Tournament… as a freshman helped lead team to 20 wins as they lost in the NJCAA Division II National Championship match… finished career as the school's all-time leader in matches played… President's Academic List… attended Colegio Carlos Drummond de Andrade in native Brazil playing club soccer…

Keidin Green (Chiba, Japan) played two seasons at the College of Idaho in Caldwell, Idaho… played in 14 matches making 13 starts during the 2025 season… scored 12 goals with five assists to finish with 29 points and earn first team All-Cascade Collegiate Conference honors… led team in both goals scored and total points while ranking first in the conference in scoring… had four multiple goal matches during the season including a hat trick (3 goals) against Walla Walla CC… had two goal contests against Corban College, Providence (Mont.) College and Evergreen College… as a freshman in 2024 earned honorable mention All-CCC honors… appeared in 15 matches with two starts… scored eight goals with four assists to finish with 20 total points… added first career hat trick against Walla Walla CC… attended Yamabe High School in Nara, Japan playing for coach Daizo Okitsu… was the Nara Prefecture D1 League top scorer… named to National High School Championship Nara Qualifying Tournament All-Tournament team… helped lead team to Nara Prefecture Inter-High Championship… was the National High School Championship Nara Prefecture Runner-Up… graduated second in class as salutatorian…

Bernardo Hanel (Canela, Brazil) played the 2025 season at Indian Hills CC helping the program win the NJCAA National Championship… appeared in 21 matches with four starts as team won 12 matches… had two goals and two assists during the season including a goal against Montgomery College in the NJCAA Pool A Tournament… played freshman season at Lincoln Trail College in Robinson, Illinois… started all 14 matches while serving as team captain… finished the season with eight shots… played club soccer in native Brazil while attending high school at Danton Corréa da Silva…

Sein Hatamoto (Okayama, Japan) played two seasons at Casper College in Wyoming appearing in 31 matches with 28 starts… as a freshman in 2024 made 13 starts with 16 total appearances… during the 2025 sophomore campaign had 15 starts on the pitch… passed out two assists in 2025 coming against Lamar CC and Otero College… helped team win ten matches while reaching the NJCAA Region 9 semifinals… named second team All-Region and earned Region 9 All-Tournament team honors… team won 11 matches during freshman season reaching Region semifinals… played for coach Yoshiaki Takahara at Okayama Gakugeikan High School… helped team qualify for the 102nd All-Japan High School Soccer Championship… led team to the round of 16 at the 2023 All-Japan High School Sports Festival…

Shuto Ishikawa (Chiba, Japan) played the 2025 season at Angelina College in Texas… appeared in 15 matches making 11 starts… finished season with four assists including a two assist match against Miami Dade College… added other assists against Texas Southmost College and LSU Eunice… began collegiate career in 2024 playing at Murray State College in Oklahoma… finished season with five goals and seven assists helping team win 18 matches while reaching the NJCAA Division I National Tournament… appeared in 17 matches with 14 starts during the year… registered a seven point match with three goals and one assist against Northern Oklahoma College Enid…  attended Chiba Meitoku High School… played club for Jef United Chiba U-18...

Owen Johnson (Chicago, Ill.) played soccer for coach Miguel Cedeno at Kenwood Academy....  was a two-time All-Conference selection helping Kenwood win the 2025 Midway Cup and Metro Conference Championship…  also earned varsity letters in baseball and golf while lettering four times in soccer…  played club soccer for Chicago Edge SC… honor roll…

Santiago Montoya (Homestead, Fla.) played the last two seasons at Barry University in Florida… as a sophomore in 2025 appeared in seven matches with three starts… scored lone goal of the season late in the year against Florida Tech… as a freshman in 2024 started all 14 matches for the year… scored first career goal against St. Leo with an assist during the season against Nova Southeastern… named to Sunshine State Conference Commissioner's Academic Honor Roll… was born in Medellin, Colombia but grew up in Florida graduating from Florida Virtual School… played high school soccer for coach at Kameron Clark at Columbus High School in Miami leading the team to 20 wins over two seasons… played club for PSG Academy Miami, Miami United and Strikers Miami Elite… 

Kai Odagiri (Kamakura, Japan) played 2025 season at Otero JC in La Junta, Colorado appearing in four matches in goal for an Otero team that won the NJCAA District 9 championship… finished with a 3.00 goals against average for the season with a clean sheet against Gillette College… finished season with 13 saves… opened collegiate career in 2024 playing freshman season at Phoenix College… appeared in 12 matches with ten starts finishing year with a 0.93 goals against average… posted four complete match shutouts while seeing partial time in goal during two additional shutouts… finished season with 33 saves… helped team win 17 matches and reach the NJCAA Division II National Tournament… attended Hiratsuka Gauuen High School playing soccer for coach Jiro Hiratsuka…

Joao Peres (Londrina, Brazil) played 2025 freshman season at Tusculum University in Tennessee… appeared in 15 matches making 13 starts… had one goal during the season coming against Lincoln Memorial… attended Colegio Londrinense… played at the club level in his native Brazil for Capeconense, Londrina EC, Portuguesa Santista and Portimonense SC…