Hawks open season today

The Harper College women's soccer season kicks off today when the Hawks travel to Milwaukee Area Technical College in the first meeting between the two programs.

The Hawks finished 7-5-1 last season and reached the Region IV finals, where they were eliminated by rival College of DuPage 1-0.

"We look really, really good," said Harper coach Dwayne Cruz of his squad's preseason workouts. "This could be our best group since 2002, 2003."

In 2002 the Hawks went to nationals. The 2003 team was ranked No. 1 in the nation.

The Hawks replaced all three defenders in their 3-4-3 formation from last season's squad. The Hawks also lost leading scorer Beckey Varilek (Rolling Meadows).

"She was such a top goal-scorer for us, the fear was that we couldn't find somebody who could do her job," Cruz said.

A player that could help fill Varilek's shoes is 2008 leading scorer Heather Pawlish (Schaumburg), who returns to the Hawks program after not playing for the squad last year. Another player to look for up top is freshman forward Kelly Constentino (Schaumburg). One preseason battle to watch will be for the starting position in goal, as two freshmen look to take the place of departed starter Amanda Papinchock.

With all the losses, the expectations remain high for the Hawks.

"Our goal is to win the region final," Cruz said. "We are prepairing to play COD (in regionals) - they are our biggest rival every year.

The Chaparrals come into the 2010 season ranked 10 in the 2010 NJCAA Division III preseason poll.

The Hawks will not need to wait long to see how well they match up against College Of DuPage. The teams meet Sept. 8 in Glen Ellyn. The Hawks finish their home slate against COD on Oct. 8.