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THE ST JOHN'S open boy's soccer side will be aiming to become one of the top four sides in the state when they welcome Hinchinbrook's Good Samaritan College to Dubbo today.
The St John's side has breezed through the opening five rounds and head into today's quarter-final of the NSW Combined Colleges (CCC) Knockout full of confidence, according to coach Luke Carter.
"We've got a bit of history in the competition, two years ago we were the best in NSW and a couple of those guys are now playing in Sydney and all over the place," he said.
"Three players in the team now were part of that side and they know they can do it, they've been there before and are feeling really positive, especially about this game."
Carter expects a stern test today against the Sydney school but after some scintillating attacking displays in the early rounds Carter knows his side is up to the challenge.
"We've had some big wins, our first three games we scored six or seven goals and one game we even won 11-nil," he said.
"We played Marian College from Griffith in the last game and they were pretty handy but we still managed to win 3-1 but the further you go the harder you expect it to get."
Today marks the first time St John's have hosted a match in this year's knockout with previous matches played at Parkes, Bathurst and Orange and Carter hopes the home ground advantage can help his side raise their standard even higher.
Joel Steward is again expected to be a key player after starring with Panthers at Bathurst this season and playing regularly in Sydney while the likes of Jonty Busch and Kobe Rapley are also key players.
While there is a strong core of soccer players in the side, Carter also praised the players who helped make up the team.
A group of boys more used to playing rugby league have joined the side this season and the coach has been impressed by the way they've fitted in.
"There's been a couple of league ring-ins and they've fit in well and made it what it is," he said.
"It gets the whole school involved and really brings the boys together."
The match kicks off at 9am this morning at St John's College.