Men's soccer: Richland stops Harper's run

After falling decisively to Richland College (Texas) in last year's district final, the Harper College men's soccer team was looking forward to a better result this year.

They did get one - but a victory still eluded the Hawks.

Richland (13-2) topped Harper 5-1 on Saturday in Palatine to earn a spot in the NJCAA national tournament in New York.

The score is a bit misleading, as the Thunder Ducks scored their final 3 goals over the last seven minutes. In any case, the outcome was a big improvement over the previous year's 8-1 loss.

"This showing felt different than last year," said Harper coach Dan Klaus.

Richland freshman Lucio Martinez scored the only goal of the first half.

Klaus planned to lean on his defense, including goalkeeper Christian Hyde (5 saves) in the second half.

But Richland struck again when Augustin Igboanugo scored with about 13 minutes left.

Klaus was impressed with the quality of the first two Richland goals. "They were nice plays," he said.

Meanwhile, Richland was able largely negate the abilities of Harper scoring standouts Ricky Choi and Angel Sarti.

"Their defense is really physical," Choi said.

"The pressure that they are able to maintain on the ball is just relentless," Klaus added.

With 7:44 left, Harper got some hope when Luccas Greco scored.

But just 41 seconds later, Sergio Lara's strike from 20 yards away put Richland ahead 3-1, and the Thunder Ducks tacked on a couple more before game's end.

Despite the loss Klaus was pleased with his squad. The Hawks finished 15-3-1 overall and came 1 win away from a national trip.

"They're a pretty darn good team," Klaus said.