Triton tops Harper in OT again

The Harper College men’s soccer team forced Triton College into some extra work for the second time this season Wednesday in Palatine.

But Triton, the fifth-ranked team in the NJCAA Division III poll, wound up with the extra credit again as it scored a controversial goal 15 seconds into overtime for a 1-0 victory.

“It was one of the best games that we have played so far.” said Harper coach Jason Diebold.

The Hawks were looking to avenge a 2-1 overtime loss to Triton. This time, David Wisniewski (Leyden) took a shot on keeper Harper George Caballero (6 saves) and it bounced off the goal post and back into the field of play.

Thomas Armic was able to pounce on the rebound and put the ball past Caballero for the disputed game-winner. The initial call by the referee was no goal, which would have resulted in Harper goal kick, but the linesman working the far side of the field indicated a goal.

The officials gathered to confer about the call and ruled Armic had scored.

“To bad it was a controversial goal,” said Triton assistant coach Piotr Sliwa, speaking for a superstitious head coach Tom Cholewa.

Neither team was able to muster many scoring chances in the first half on the soggy field. With the Hawks having more quality chances at goal in the first half, Cholewa took intermission to settle down his team and the Trojans responded with a burst of energy to start the second 45 minutes of play.

As they did all game, Caballero and defender Alex Bochat (Fremd) where equal to the task when asked to play their roles.

With the rain intensifying, so did the Harper attack, putting plenty of stress on the Triton back line. Backup freshman goalkeeper Maciej Orlowski (5 saves) was able to stymie the Hawks attack as Kyle O’Meara (Palatine) distributed balls out of the midfield to his forwards making runs toward the Trojan net.