Men's soccer team ready for conference opener Thursday at home

The Eastern Florida State College men's soccer team will take the field at Titan Soccer Complex for the first time on Thursday night.

The Titans are a perfect 3-0 on the road and are ranked third in the both the United Soccer Coaches Association and NJCAA poll. In those three games the Titans have outscored opponents 25-3 and 12 different players have scored a goal.

"We are starting to gel as a team, we have got goals from all over the park which gives us multiple attacking threats as a team. Defensively we are physically strong through the core of the team," Eastern Florida State College men's soccer coach Oliver Twelvetrees said. "I think we are going to be a real handful for teams as long as we can execute our game plan, I am confident about Thursday."

Now they turn their attention to the Region 8 Conference as Broward College comes to Titan Soccer Complex for the home and conference opener at 6 p.m. Thursday.

"I have a lot of respect for coach Munga Eketebi, I know he will have some really good players and it is the beginning of the season so he will have them fired up and I expect a close game," Twelvetrees said. "It is our first conference game so I expect both teams to be up for it and able to put on a good show for the fans at the game."

Sophomore Jimmy Mwanga leads Region 8 with four goals this season while Jai-Zel Smith-DeShields has a region-best four assists to go along with a goal this season.

The Titans have won the Region 8 regular season or Region tournament title every season since the start of the program in 2012 and head into this season with high expectations after making the Southeast District Final last season.

"This conference is getting better every year, obviously Daytona has started the season off strongly and they will always be a good battle and rival. We have always had close games with Broward and ASA and we expect a strong challenge in every game," Twelvetrees said. "We know if we can get through the conference, we will have a chance to compete on the national level and do really well but we know how difficult it is to get out of the conference and to the district and national tournament."

Admission to games at Titan Soccer Complex is free.