DAHLONEGA – The University of North Georgia men's soccer team is little more than 24 hours away from beginning the 2024 season. This season will be the first for head coach Anel Lilic since getting the interim tag removed after a 9-8-2 mark last year. 

With three Peach Belt Conference Preseason All-Conference selections in sophomore midfielder Aram Lara, junior forward Santiago Cano and junior defender Max Garnett coupled with a flurry of highly talented newcomers, the Nighthawks are shaping up to be a force in 2024. 

In the second episode of the Nighthawk Sports Network's newest show, The Hawks Nest, Lilac sat down with UNG Director of Communications Brendan Schabath to discuss a number of topics surrounding the program. 

Lilic mentioned the thrill of last season's success and the shared joy between him and his players when it was announced that he would become the full-time head coach.

"They had a motive to go out and compete outside of winning. I think they really wanted us to be hired full-time, so it gave them an extra incentive," said Lilic. "It was kind of a cool thing between us as a group and the players. They were really fighting for us as well."

Last season, UNG held a 7-0-1 record at the UNG Soccer Field at Lynn Cottrell Park, its best home record in the NCAA era in program history. The team also returned to the PBC Tournament Semifinals for the first time since 2017. 

With the excitement of newfound success from last year and 28 newcomers joining the team this year, the energy and anticipation for this season can be heard in Lilic's voice. 

"We wanted to recruit a lot of good, top-level domestic kids. And then obviously get some older kids in as internationals," said Lilic. "I'm happy with everyone here. The level is quite high… Everybody is at a good enough level to provide something positive in training."

The Nighthawks will open the season on Thursday, Sep. 5 with a neutral site match against Francis Marion held in Morrow, Ga. at Clayton State for the 16th Annual Laker Loch-In Classic. 

In 18 matchups historically, UNG and FMU have split the series 9-9. If history is any indication, a three-match win streak is in store for one of these teams in the near future. Since the Nighthawks and Patriots first began facing each other back in 2005 the two programs have traded three-match win streaks back and forth all the way until the most recent match in 2021, a 2-1 win for FMU to mark their third in-a-row over UNG. 

Lilic, like anyone, does not know how Thursday will go. However, he does know his team and his players can't and won't be judged based on one game. 

"We'll just take it day by day," said Lilic. "We want to implement how we want to play and our style and make sure that everyone has a clear picture. Again, everyone has a job and a responsibility and if they don't do their role, we need to help them learn that role."

Lilic added, "It's really just a process… we're just going to take it game by game. I think the results will come as long as everybody has a clear role and we've done everything we can to give them that role and they stick to it as a group… I think we'll be in a good place"

A new era for North Georgia men's soccer begins Thursday. With Lilic at the helm, there's excitement from players, fans, coaches and everyone else around the program. Luckily for them, "day by day" starts tomorrow.