The men’s soccer team aspires to place first in the south division of conference, a goal they haven’t achieved since 1984, this season, according to head coach Seong Bong Ha.

The past few years the men have taken the second place title; however, Ha believes this team has the potential to be state contenders, something he has been telling the senior class since their freshman year.

According to senior captain Henry Tarbox, victories against GBN on Sept. 12 (1-0) and Waukegan on Sept. 15 (2-0) have been a huge accomplishment for the team and propelled their confidence. These victories have helped the team with their dynamic, a past struggle, according to Ha.

“I think we as coaches were trying to think of what we could do to make our players that much more successful,” Ha said. “So we played with a lot of different types of formations and we have settled upon a few. […] I think their confidence, partially going against [some] really good opponents [recently] has given them a lot of confidence in going where we want to be [in regards] to our goals.”

Though the team has had some recent success, and they have faced crucial injuries, such as senior captain Iñaki Bascaran. Bascaran led the defensive end of the team, and with the loss,  junior Grady Bruch has stepped up and taken on the position, Bascaran said.

“[Bruch] is one of those players that you could put any spot on the field and he can play like a master,” Bascaran said. “He’s been playing my position well, but we definitely need him up on the top too if I come back, because he is really good at header goals.”

The men recently fought hard on both Sept. 17 and 21 against Evanston (0-3) and Maine South (0-2).

However, the Titans were able to keep the game tied at (0-0) in a recent game against Niles West on Sept. 24.

With the heat of their conference games closing in, the men are preparing for playoffs which will be beginning this month.

The soccer team will participate in the Gateway Classic over the weekend.