Milwaukee, Wis. – Making it into the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Men's Soccer Tournament for the second year in a row, the No. 6 seeded Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks men's soccer team was on the road Sunday afternoon to take on the No. 3 seeded Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) Raiders in a Quarterfinal match. In the end, the rain-soaked match did not go in favor of the Hawks as the Raiders controlled the game offensively. At the final whistle, the Hawks 2024 season came to an end as the Raiders secured a 4-0 victory. The Hawks conclude their season with a 9-7-3 overall record while the Raiders move on to the semifinal match with a 10-3-6 overall record. 

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• With just their second shot of the contest, the Raiders Ditar Useni found the back of the net off a Danny Aranda assist during the 12th minute of action.  Aranda played a splitting ball through the Hawks defense into the 18-yard box right to the feet of Useni. The Hawks were able to get a toe poke on the ball, but Useni was able to stay with it, taking a left footed shot and placing it into the lower left corner.  

• Right before halftime, Aranda gave the Raiders a 2-0 lead over the Hawks off a Grant Glorioso and Adrian Manchado assist. From just outside the corner of the 18-yard box, Glorioso received the ball from Manchado before crossing the ball in towards the top corner of the 6-yard box. With a settling first touch, Aranda was able to turn to face the goal and place a right footed shot just between the gloves of Colin Thomas and the cross bar.  

• During the first 45 minutes of action, the Raiders dominated the ball offensively, out shooting the Hawks 10-2 with a 6-1 advantage in shots on goal. Smith made 10 saves for the Hawks to keep them within two goals, while Asher Harris made one save to keep a clean sheet through the first half.  

• The Raiders continued to control the game throughout the second half. In the 54th minute, Luke Schwenke gave the Raiders a 3-0 lead off an Aranda assist. As rain poured down in Milwaukee, Aranda dribbled down the field and made his way into the 18-yard box. With multiple Hawk defenders crashing in on his, Aranda juked left and right, creating enough space to square a pass across to a wide open Schwenke near the penalty kick area.  All Schwenke had to do was square his foot and place a shot just underneath the diving Thomas for the goal.  

• 11 minutes later, Aranda wrapped up the game with the Raiders fourth goal and his second of the day off a Useni assist. Gaining possession in their defensive half, the Raiders quickly counterattacked the Hawks. As the Raiders made their way down the field, they made a cutting run towards the endline inside the 18-yard box before playing a chipped cross to the top center of the 6-yard box. Useni initially took the first shot, getting a head on the cross and sending the ball towards the net. Thomas would save Useni's shot, but unfortunately for the Hawks, the ball would land right at the feet of Aranda who ripped a near post, upper 90 shot, giving the Raiders their 4-0 lead and ultimate victory.  

SCARLET HAWK STANDOUTS 

• Tomas Rebelatto – 77 minutes, 2 shots, 1 shot on goal 

• Dominik Kroupa – 81 minutes, 1 shot, 1 shot on goal 

RAIDERS STANDOUTS 

• Danny Aranda – 67 minutes, 2 goals, 2 assists, 2 shots, 2 shots on goal 

• Ditar Useni – 62 minutes, 1 goal, 1 assist, 5 shots, 4 shots on goal 

• Lukas Schwenke – 43 minutes, 1 goal, 3 shots, 2 shots on goal 

• Grant Glorioso – 28 minutes, 1 assist, 2 shots, 1 shot on goal 

• Adrian Manchado – 24 minutes, 1 assist 

• Asher Harris – 76 minutes, 1 save, combined shutout 

• Christian Dershem – 8 minutes, 1 save, combined shutout 

• Joey Moore – 6 minutes, combined shutout  

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE 

• MSOE out shot Illinois Tech 21-5 with 12 shots on goal versus two 

• 10-of-16 corner kicks went in favor of the Raiders 

• The Hawks made eight saves on 21 shots faced while the Raiders made two saves on five shots faced 

• All four of the Raiders' goals came inside the 18-yard box 

2024 SEASON RECAP 

Sunday's loss marks the end of the Scarlet Hawks men's soccer teams 2024 season.  

In his first year as head coach of the Hawks, Marlon Mckenzie led the team to their second NACC Men's Soccer Tournament appearance with a 9-7-3 overall record and a 5-6-1 conference record.  

Throughout the season, the Hawks were ranked in the United Soccer Coaches Region VIII Rankings in back-to-back week during the weeks of September 17th and 24th for the weeks prior. In the poll two to rankings, released on the 17th, the Hawks ranked 6th. One week later in the poll three rankings, released on the 24th, the Hawks dropped one spot to 7th.  

For the 2024 season, the Hawks finished with 35 goals scored for 1.84 goals per game, 233 shots for 12.3 shots per game with 120 shots on goal, 31 assists, and 70 saves. Devin Zakeri led the team in goals with 11 while Tomas Rebelatto and Mateo Sanchez followed with six a piece. Paul Balea led in assists with eight while Zakeri and Rebelatto followed with four. Time in goal was split between Colin Thomas, Adam Falcigno, and David Rodriguez. Thomas finished the season with the most minutes in net, recording 1096:09. He tallied 43 saves for a .672 save percentage and ended with a 7-4-2 record. Falcigno recorded 491:26 minutes, had 23 saves for a .793 save percentage, and finished with a 2-2-1 record. Rodriguez ended with 122:25 minutes and 4 saves for a .800 save percentage.  

Congratulations to Devin Zakeri, Mateo Sanchez, Alex Maliwat, Connor Schommer, and Farouq Sellami for your careers as Scarlet Hawks.  

The Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks men's soccer team will return to action in the fall of 2025.