The Dakota County Technical College Men's Soccer team will be playing a very difficult schedule in the fall of 2017. For the past several years, the blue knights have been struggling to find a consistent schedule, but this year, and future years will be different as they join the highly talented Iowa Community College Athletic Conference (ICCAC). The ICCAC is one of the toughest conferences in the country with the always-top ten rated, Iowa Western (Council Bluffs, Iowa) and Iowa Central (Fort Dodge, Iowa) teams. As, DCTC Men's head coach Mark Obarski said, "every game will be a challenge for us to play our best and compete with some of the top teams in the country, it will be a chance for our players and our program to develop." In addition to playing the ICCAC teams, the Blue Knights will play in state rival Lake Superior from Duluth, Minnesota in a home and home series along with playing St. Olaf College and Gustavus Adolphus Colleges Junior Varsity teams in home and home matches. To round out the schedule for 2017, the Blue Knights will even go above and beyond and have scheduled two of the ICCAC schools in non-conference games. They are North Iowa Area Community College (Mason City, Iowa) and Hawkeye Community College (Waterloo, Iowa).
The Blue Knights do not have many returners from last years team which ended the season 7-9 and lost in the first round of the ICCAC play-offs, but the returners they do have will play key roles in the teams offensive and defensive systems. Two key returners are Hamza Abdujalil and Michael Zziwa, both who were starting forwards last season until injuries 20 minutes apart in a game brought an end to both of their seasons. Monday Saw will also be a key returner in the midfield and Aung Win will be a steady performer on the defense. Tony Branca who started every game in goal last year will also be returning.
The incoming freshman class will provide needed depth to the Blue Knights roster, with several players needing to play key roles in the starting line-up.
Dakota County Technical College Men's Soccer Schedule: 2017
Date: Location: Opponent: Time:
August 22 DCTC St. Olaf Varsity & 7:00pm
August 24 DCTC Lake Superior 7:00pm
August 27 Waterloo, Iowa Hawkeye CC 3 or 5pm
August 30 DCTC St. Olaf JV 7:00pm
September 2 DCTC North Iowa Area CC 7:00pm
September 9 Bettendorf, Iowa Scott County CC# 2:00pm
September 12 St. Peter, MN Gustavus JV 5:00pm
September 16 DCTC Northeast Nebraska# 2:00pm
September 20 Estherville, IA Iowa Lakes CC# 2:00pm
September 23 DCTC Indian Hills CC# 2:00pm
September 27 DCTC St. Olaf JV 7:00pm
September 30 Council Bluffs, IA Iowa Western CC# 2:00pm
October 4 Duluth, MN Lake Superior 3 or 5pm
October 6 DCTC Marshalltown CC# 6:00pm
October 11 DCTC Hawkeye CC# 4:00pm
October 14 Mason City, IA North Iowa Area CC# 2:00pm
October 18 DCTC Gustavus JV 7:00pm
October 21 DCTC Iowa Central# 3:00pm
# Denotes Iowa Conference Game
& Denotes Scrimmage
Post-Season Schedule:
Region First Round
October 28
Region Semi Finals
October 31
Region Final
November 4
Nationals
November Florida
