By Jami Sponaugle

Chicago, Ill. - The Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) released the men’s soccer pre-season poll on August 25th. In the poll, Illinois Tech was voted to finish seventh in the rankings with 120 points. Leading the poll for the 2022 season is Dominican University who received 328 points and 17 first-place votes. 

During the 2021 season, the Hawks finished the year with a 7-11-1 overall record and a 3-8-1 conference record. Illinois Tech looks to turn a new page for the upcoming season and find their way into the winning bracket by the end of the year. 

“We had a young and resilient team last year that was determined to stay in games and were hopeful for results.” said head coach Marc Colwell. He continued with: “This year we have the experience to go into games expecting results. That mindset is the difference that will carry us to a strong season.” 

The Hawks return 25 players for the 2023 season, including 11 seniors, 7 juniors, and 7 sophomores. After leading the offense last season with 10 goals, 3 assists and 23 points, Michael Kaczowka returns with hopes of once again leading the Hawks offensively. Devin Zakeri and Mateo Sanchez both look to continue where they left off in their freshmen seasons. Zakeri and Mateo both fired off 25 shots a piece, tying for second most shots on the team, and look to continue their momentum into the upcoming season. Defensively, the Hawks look towards Jordan Plewa as a main contributor to help anchor down the defense. In-between the posts for the Hawks the season will be Adam Falcigno and Marko Brajkovic. Joining the Hawks for the season are nine newcomers to complete the 2023 team. 

Illinois Tech begin the season on Thursday, Sept. 1 on their home turf of Stuart Field against the Albion College Brittons. The non-conference match-up against the Brittons is set to kick-off at 4 p.m.