The Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks are new to the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) this academic year, but the men’s soccer team is already garnering respect. In the NACC’s preseason poll, the Scarlet Hawks were picked to finish sixth out of the league’s 12 teams.
Illinois Tech earned a total of 151 points, slotting behind Dominican (281 points, 18 first-place votes), Concordia-Wisconsin (251 points, four first-place votes), Benedictine (231 points, two first-place votes), Aurora (229 points), and Milwaukee School of Engineering (187 points). Illinois Tech edged out Edgewood (140 points) and Marian (138 points) to hold sixth place.
The poll is voted on by the NACC’s head coaches and sports information directors. Conference regular season standings determine the teams that qualify for the six-team conference tournament, while the tournament champion receives the league’s automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament.
Illinois Tech enters the NACC and NCAA Division III on a strong note, finishing 14-5-1 overall in 2017 and earning a trip to the USCAA National Championships. This season begins on Friday, August 31 at 7 p.m. at Stuart Field against Ripon College.
Live audio, video, and stats are set to be available for all men’s soccer home events. The live audio will be powered by Illinois Media School.