advertisement

Harper rolls into Region IV title game

For four minutes Tuesday afternoon, the NJCAA Region IV women’s soccer tournament semifinal was a close affair.

But after the Hawks got on the board, courtesy of the first of forward Stephanie Hurwitz’s two quick breakaway goals, it was all Harper in a 6-1 decision over visiting Triton.

“All I tried to do was use my speed,” said Hurwitz.

“We know to play Steph on the run,” said Harper coach Dwayne Cruz. “All we need to do is get her open.”

The Hawks found an open Hurwitz (Fremd) four times, and all but one of the opportunities led to a goal.

Jessica Cosentino (Bartlett) had a big night statistically as well, scoring a goal to go along with 2 assists.

Over the final 20 minutes, The Trojans started to find themselves. They dominated possession while making life diffcult for fill-in starting Harper keeper Amanda Hagen (Hoffman Estates), who turned away 13 of Triton’s 14 shots.

After Harper jumped out to its big lead, Cruz was able to make various changes to his lineup — something he’s had to do all season.

The win puts the Hawks (6-3) in their sixth straight NJCAA Region IV championship game Saturday at College of DuPage. Harper will either play the host Chaparrals or or Milwaukee Area Technical College.

Article Comments
Guidelines: Keep it civil and on topic; no profanity, vulgarity, slurs or personal attacks. People who harass others or joke about tragedies will be blocked. If a comment violates these standards or our terms of service, click the "flag" link in the lower-right corner of the comment box. To find our more, read our FAQ.