Harper looks to improve on last season

The Harper College men's soccer season kicks off at noon Saturday, when the Hawks welcome Waubonsee Community College. The Hawks ended Waubonsee's season last year in the first round of Region IV playoffs 3-2 but later bowed out with a 3-2 loss to Triton. Harper finished last season 13-5.

"I will have a better team this year than I did last year," said Harper head coach Jason Diebold.

The Hawks return seven of last year's starting 11, including goalie Andrew Larson (Elk Grove) and midfielder/defender Bartlomiej Danczuk (Palatine). Danczuk figures to play a key role as the Hawks' central defender.

New to the Harper roster are some key freshmen, including forward Andy Carillo and central defender Salih Golic.

"He is going to be excellent for us," Diebold, now in his 10th season in charge of the Harper program, said of Carillo.

The surprise of the freshman crop might be Golic.

"I didn't know he was coming (to Harper)" Diebold said of Golic.

The Hawks have to rebuild their defense because of the loss of sophomore Danny Weiss.

"He was just quality all around with his work ethic and his will to win," Diebold said.

As always, Diebold has high expectations for his group.

"My expectation is to win the regional final and move on," he said.

The Hawks have two NJCAA preseason ranked teams on the schedule. The first game against a ranked team comes Sept. 8, when Harper hosts NJCAA Division I preseason 14th-ranked College of DuPage at 4 p.m.

Harper has never beaten Chaparrals in Diebold's 10 yeas as coach.

"It is just a matter of putting the stigma behind us," Diebold said of his team's mindset against DuPage.

Two days later, the Hawks play NJCAA preseason No. 8-ranked Triton College. Diebold likes his team's chances against the Trojans.

"If we show up and play the way we are capable of playing," he said, "the winning should take care of itself."