Tednes, Harper advance to regional final

Harper College women’s soccer coach Dwayne Cruz wanted his team to get out to a fast start in defense of its NJCAA Region IV tournament championship.

And in Tuesday’s semifinals against Joliet, he pretty much got what he was looking for.

Freshman midfielder Leah Tednes (Hoffman Estates) scored less than two minutes into the game, and it was only the start of a very special night for her. Tednes finished with a hat trick as Harper handled the Wolves 4-1.

“I was nervious about taking them on (1-on-1),” Tednes said. “Once I started taking them on, I was succesfull.”

One of those chances earned freshman Bree Nishibun (Fremd) a penalty kick that she calmly converted.

Not everything went smoothly for the Hawks, however. Sophomore defender Amanda Herdegen (Fremd) was forced to leave the game due to injury, forcing the Hawks to play the rest of the game with only 10 players.

With Harper leading 3-0, Wolves coach Gino Di Nardo decided to throw more players into the attack, forcing the Hawks to play for long stretches in their own defensive half.

“The lineup in the second half worked better,” Di Nardo said.

Sophomore midfielder Caytin Lewin (Benet Academy) was able to put a penalty kick past Hawks keeper Elyce Dye (Hersey).

Lewin was an NJCAA Division III second team All-American last season.

“You don’t get many girls like her,” Cruz said of Lewin.

Dye was asked to make several big saves to kee the Wolves at bay.

“(Dye) had a great day today” Cruz said.

The Hawks advance to Saturday’s regional finals and will travel to meet College of DuPage at noon. DuPage defeated Triton 6-0 Tuesday to advance.

“If Leah plays well, we will win,” Cruz said.