PALATINE, Ill. – In their final tune-up before regionals next week, the Harper College women's soccer team looked sharp in beating visiting Oakton 2-1 on Sunday afternoon. With the win, the Hawks improve to 8-6 despite playing most of their games at least a player down. Leah Tednes (Hoffman Estates, Ill., Hoffman Estates) scored two goals to help the Hawks build a 2-0 lead over the Raiders before Harper played some impressive defense to fend off a furious Oakton push in the match's final minutes.

After Kelli Cosentino (Bartlett, Ill., Bartlett) launched a shot off the crossbar in the 3rd minute and nearly gave Harper an early lead, Tednes tried a different kind of shot. In the 8th minute, Tednes made a few moves on some Raider defenders before softly arcing the ball just underneath the crossbar and just over the outstretched arms of Oakton's goalkeeper. Tednes gave Harper a much needed insurance goal in the 51st minute before Oakton finally got on the scoreboard in the 66th minute. Elyce Dye (Arlington Heights, Ill., Hersey) made several nice plays to keep Harper in front. She stopped shots in the 24th minute, 56th minute and the 90th minute. In the 25th minute, Dye wisely came out to boot away a ball that could have resulted in an Oakton goal as the Raiders had three attackers behind Harper's backline.

Harper will begin postseason play next week.