CHICAGO--The Illinois Institute of Technology men's soccer program have seven seniors on their 2020-21 roster in Noah Kwortnik, Ryan Fagan, Luigi Michelin, Oluwaseun Ogunsanya, Manuel Lopez, Shaswat Thapa and Jack Critzer. These seven young men have displayed the hard work, teamwork and dedication necessary to propel the Scarlet Hawks to new heights on and off the playing field. The Scarlet Hawks will play their final scrimmage of the spring on Friday, April 23 at 6:00 p.m., which can be viewed here.
Why did you choose Illinois Tech?: Good engineering program.
What is your favorite moment of your Illinois Tech career?: Scoring my first goal.
Favorite team tradition/activity?: Post-match celebrations and counting down from three.
What made you fall in love with soccer originally?: Scoring bangers and hanging with teammates.
What lessons have you learned through competing in your sport that have stuck with you?: Soccer has taught me to communicate with people in the good and the bad times.
What advice would you give your first-year teammates?: Just enjoy being with the people around you.
Favorite Illinois Tech class that you learned the most from and why?: Architectural Design, it was fun and interesting.
Which Illinois Tech faculty or staff member made the greatest impact on you and why?: Coach Colwell, who allowed me to join the team and have fun over the years.
Favorite place on campus?: MSV
Favorite thing to do in the city?: Wondering around aimlessly.
What are your post graduation plans?: Get a job as a engineering consultant.
Favorite Chicago restaurant?: Maxwells
Why did you choose Illinois Tech?: I chose Illinois Tech because of academics and athletics, the high-level civil engineering program, and the thrill of living in Chicago.
What is your favorite moment of your Illinois Tech career?: Team Trip to Ireland And North Ireland.
Favorite team tradition/activity?: Freshman Bus Ride Karaoke.
What made you fall in love with soccer originally?: The friendships and bond I was able to build with teammates made me fall in love with soccer originally.
What lessons have you learned through competing in your sport that have stuck with you?: Believe in yourself, find your passion, embrace failure, adapt, grow and work hard.
What advice would you give your first-year teammates?: Work hard on and off the field, study hard and anything is possible.
Favorite Illinois Tech class that you learned the most from and why?: My favorite class is IPRO with Akshar Patel. He provided me with a wide range of knowledge that I implemented in school, and my future career.
Which Illinois Tech faculty or staff member made the greatest impact on you and why?: Akshar Patel has made the greatest impact on me because he provided me with some of the best advice both academically and professionally. His knowledge that he passed to me helped me develop as a student and professional, as well as helped me achieve successes both outside and inside the classroom. I will be forever grateful for all his help throughout my four years at Illinois Tech.
Favorite place on campus?: Stuart Field
Favorite thing to do in the city?: Ride my bike on Lake Shore.
What are your post graduation plans?: Working as a Project Engineer at LF Driscoll in Philadelphia, and traveling on the weekends.
Favorite Chicago restaurant?: Pequod's Pizza
Why did you choose Illinois Tech?: The opportunity of being in the city, and I also got to play soccer with my bros.
What is your favorite moment of your Illinois Tech career?: Virginia Nationals 2017.
Favorite team tradition/activity?: Team talk, huddling, chanting and celebrating.
What made you fall in love with soccer originally?: Grew up watching and playing soccer with my friends from a young age.
What lessons have you learned through competing in your sport that have stuck with you?: Everybody wants to succeed, you need to put in extra work to standout. Sometimes, you don't standout even if your work ethic is off the charts. You need to learn from your mistakes and keep working.
What advice would you give your first-year teammates?: Enjoy every single moment, work hard and strive to be the best version of yourself. Don't compare yourself to others.
Favorite Illinois Tech class that you learned the most from and why?: Rich Internet Application. As much as I had to do a lot of assignments for this class, the challenges made me realize I have more potential than I thought.
Which Illinois Tech faculty or staff member made the greatest impact on you and why?: Marc Colwell. He is always looking to assist with whatever the case may be. He asks for my opinion on issues that concern the team and he listens and pushes you to be a better person.
Favorite place on campus?: Center court because I can get good and it is also inspirational.
Favorite thing to do in the city?: Play in different REC leagues and pickup games.
What are your post graduation plans?: Explore Europe
Favorite Chicago restaurant?: Lou Malnati's
Why did you choose Illinois Tech?: It was the perfect opportunity to play soccer, be in Chicago, and be at a challenging school.
What is your favorite moment of your Illinois Tech career?: Getting a red card for allegedly spitting on an opponent. (PS: I didn't really spit on him)
Favorite team tradition/activity?: Celebrating after a big win!!!
What made you fall in love with soccer originally?: I've played soccer but I never watched soccer until I went to the Man U vs Chicago Fire game and fell in love.
What lessons have you learned through competing in your sport that have stuck with you?: Have fun, always give your best effort with a positive attitude, and always be there for your brothers.
What advice would you give your first-year teammates?: Work hard in soccer and school but remember there's more to college than that, go explore the city.
Favorite Illinois Tech class that you learned the most from and why?: Data Mining because I worked hard to understand and practice it.
Which Illinois Tech faculty or staff member made the greatest impact on you and why?: Coach Colwell because he was with me through thick and thin over my whole college career!!
Favorite place on campus?: Lib
Favorite thing to do in the city?: Bike around or try new food.
What are your post graduation plans?: Make money, travel to new places, and try new things.
Favorite Chicago restaurant?: Devil Dawgs
Why did you choose Illinois Tech?: Academics, location, opportunity to play soccer.
What is your favorite moment of your Illinois Tech career?: Scoring the winning goal against Concordia Wisconsin in my sophomore season, which was the toughest opponent that we beat that year.
Favorite team tradition/activity?: Post win celebrations.
What made you fall in love with soccer originally?: Can not remember, but being born in Brazil definitely helped.
What lessons have you learned through competing in your sport that have stuck with you?: Resilience, nothing like a day after another.
What advice would you give your first-year teammates?: Patience and enjoy the process.
Favorite Illinois Tech class that you learned the most from and why?: CAE 470, Construction Methods and Cost Estimating, directly related to what I want to do in the future and helped me to get my first job opportunity in the United States.
Which Illinois Tech faculty or staff member made the greatest impact on you and why?: Andre Adler, who taught me resilience and that hard work does not guarantee success.
Favorite place on campus?: Stuart Field
Favorite thing to do in the city?: Bike around the lake.
What are your post graduation plans?: Work in Chicago and become a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Black Belt.
Favorite Chicago restaurant?: Fogo de Chao, even though it's too expensive for me.
Why did you choose Illinois Tech?: The location, atmosphere and the people are what made me choose Illinois Tech.
What is your favorite moment of your Illinois Tech career?: Hasn't been a long career, but the way we figured out how to practice and play despite the pandemic really showed how resilient we are.
Favorite team tradition/activity?: Break downs post practices.
What made you fall in love with soccer originally?: The passion that players and fans have, as well as the family-like feeling that soccer provides you with be it a club fanbase or your team.
What lessons have you learned through competing in your sport that have stuck with you?: Never give in, and always be prepared to take advantage of any opportunity that may arise.
What advice would you give your first-year teammates?: Work hard and have fun, days gone by never come back.
Favorite Illinois Tech class that you learned the most from and why?: Can't really choose one, although the Humanities electives have been a breath of fresh air.
Which Illinois Tech faculty or staff member made the greatest impact on you and why?: My advisors including Coach, bosses at work all have had a significant impact.
Favorite place on campus?: Stuart Field
Favorite thing to do in the city?: Bike ride along Lake Shore.
What are your post graduation plans?: Find a job, continue to play soccer.
Favorite Chicago restaurant?: Taqueria San Jose.
Why did you choose Illinois Tech?: I wanted to move to Chicago, and they offered the best financial package.
What is your favorite moment of your Illinois Tech career?: Scoring my last goal.
Favorite team tradition/activity?: 31st street beach runs.
What made you fall in love with soccer originally?: Playing with my cousins.
What lessons have you learned through competing in your sport that have stuck with you?: Nothing is ever handed to you, you gotta work for everything.
What advice would you give your first-year teammates?: Enjoy every day because it goes by so fast.
Favorite Illinois Tech class that you learned the most from and why?: CS 512 Computer Vision, the homework and projects I had to complete were some of the most valuable learning experiences.
Which Illinois Tech faculty or staff member made the greatest impact on you and why?: Coach Colwell for believing in me, and Professor Bilgic for introducing me to AI.
Favorite place on campus?: Stuart Field
Favorite thing to do in the city?: Walk around downtown.
What are your post graduation plans?: Moving to Milwaukee and working at Accenture.
Favorite Chicago restaurant?: Devil Dawgs, so many memories about that place.