Chicago, Ill. — Behind the scoring of Mateo Secaira and Cal Graham, Illinois Tech men's soccer secured a decisive 9-1 victory over Rockford at Stuart Field Wednesday night, as the Scarlet Hawks prepare for their opening round match in the conference post-season tournament on Saturday.

Illinois Tech improved to 10-5-3 overall and 7-3-2 in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) play. The Regents fell to 2-15-1 overall and 1-11-0 in conference competition. With the win and final results from around the conference, the Scarlet Hawks clinched the sixth-seed in the NACC tournament, and will travel to St. Norbert on Saturday, November 1st for their quarterfinal round match with the third-seeded Green Knights.

Secaira and Graham provided the offensive fireworks for the Scarlet Hawks on this evening, with Secaira scoring five goals and Graham adding a pair of tallies. For Secaira, his give goals on the evening game him13 in NACC play, taking over the lead in the conference. He finished the regular season with 15 goals overall.

Illinois Tech established an early lead against the Regents with a goal by Tomas Rebelatto in the third minute. Graham doubled the advantage with a 13th-minute strike, assisted by Rebelatto. Graham scored again in the 18th minute, with Paul Balea providing the assist, to extend the lead to three goals. Secaira added a fourth goal for Illinois Tech in the 20th minute, capping a dominant first half. Rockford's attempts were thwarted by Illinois Tech's goalkeeper, David Rodriguez, who made key saves at 13:26 and 19:00. The half ended with Illinois Tech leading 4-0.

Illinois Tech extended its lead early in the second half with a goal from Secaira in the 47th minute, assisted by Graham. Secaira struck again with a penalty kick in the 68th minute and added two more goals in the 74th and 81st minutes, bringing his total to four in the half. Theo Balea also contributed with a goal in the 65th minute, his first collegiate career goal. The Regents managed to get on the board late with a goal by Andrew Roth, assisted by Charles Obieze in the 88th minute, concluding the match with a 9-1 victory for Illinois Tech.

Scarlet Hawk Standouts

Mateo Secaira  
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- five goals  
- 12 shots  
- eight shots on goal  

Cal Graham  
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- two goals  
- one assist  
- one game-winning goal  

Tomas Rebelatto  
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- one goal  
- one assist  
- two shots on goal  

Theo Balea  
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- one goal
- first career goal
- two shots 

David Rodriguez  
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- three saves  
- 45 minutes played  
- one win  

Rockford Top Performers  

Wesley Pritzlaff  
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- 10 saves  

Andrew Roth  
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- 1 goal  
- 1 shot on goal  

Charles Obieze  
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- 1 assist  

Game Notes:  
- Illinois Tech improved to 8-0-1 overall against the Regents, and has a three-game winning streak.
- Illinois Tech outshot Rockford 29-5, and had a 19-4 advantage in shots on goal.

Up Next
The Scarlet Hawks will travel to De Pere, Wisconsin on Saturday, November 1st, to take on St. Norbert in the opening round of the NACC Men's Soccer post-season tournament. The quarterfinal match will kick off at 7:00 p.m.