Head Coach Mat Santoro talked about the most anticipated games for the rest of the Men’s Soccer season.

Santoro  said the next game would always be their most anticipated.

“The NCAA DII soccer schedule is so condensed…” Santoro said. “Every game is a region game and all but two are [Great Lakes Valley Conference] games. If you have a rough 9-day stretch…it can be over. It’s pretty harsh, so the next game means everything. Always.”

Santoro  said this is the March Madness of the soccer season. 

“If this were March Madness, we’d be one of those conferences with 9 or 10 teams in the tournament,” Santoro said.

Santoro said that strategies are just about the team, that there was really no time to scout their opponents out.

“Guys have different roles, so although the public might notice goal scorers and keepers a little more, we have many guys who do their jobs well,” Santoro said. “We couldn’t do without any of them.”

Even the incoming freshmen have their coach’s high praise.

“They’re excellent,” Santoro said. “They came in prepared. They’ve been good to start preseason, and we expect them to have good careers.”

The next USI Men’s Soccer game will be at 4 p.m.September 5 at Marquette, Michigan against North Michigan University.