PALATINE, Ill. – The Harper College men's soccer team got on the board first but 4 straight goals from Milwaukee Area Technical College washed away Harper's chance of advancing on a cold and rainy Wednesday afternoon in Palatine.  The 4-2 loss ends Harper's season in the Region IV Division III quarterfinals.
 
Harper (5-8, 5-4 N4C) didn't waste much time getting ahead in this do-or-die game.  In the tenth minute, Harper was awarded a corner kick.  Kyle O'Meara (Palatine, Ill., Palatine) attempted to head the ball towards the goal but the ball deflected to the center of the field, just outside of the box.  Diego Caldera (Elk Grove, Ill., Elk Grove) was all alone and measured up a shot, striking one just out of the reach of Milwaukee (6-9) goalkeeper Steven Forsheim and just inside of the right post for a 1-0 Hawk lead.
 
Milwaukee answered quickly, striking for goals in the 15^th minute and 22^nd minute to take a 2-1 lead.  Harper nearly tied the game up in the 23^rd minute when Leonardo Altamirano (Wheeling, Ill., Wheeling) lofted a shot over the goal keeper's head and off the right post.  Milwaukee scored twice more again at the tail end of the first half to give them a 4-1 lead in the 40^th minute.
 
The Hawks stopped Milwaukee's run of 4 unanswered goals with some nice teamwork just before halftime.  In the 43^rd minute, Alex Bochat (Hoffman Estates, Ill., Fremd) sent a free kick into the box where Stephan Thabuteau (Palatine, Ill., Palatine) and O'Meara both went up for header.  The ball found Thabuteau's head and he finished it off to cut Milwaukee's lead to 4-2.  Just a minute later, Harper tried to cut even further into the deficit.  Alvaro Rebolledo (Palatine, Ill., Palatine) sent a nice pass to Lorenzo Savino (Barrington, Ill., Fremd), who launched a shot on goal that ultimately netted Harper a corner kick.  Following the corner kick, Caldera get off a good shot but it was saved.
 
Being 2 goals behind at halftime, Harper was intent on attacking in the second half.  The team started right away in the 47^th minute as Thabuteau was fouled, which resulted in a free kick for Bochat.  The defender sent it toward Milwaukee's goal and Forsheim deflected it out of bounds.  On the ensuing corner kick, Rebolledo's ball was saved.  Ramon Gonzalez (Streamwood, Ill., Streamwood) added a shot in the 50^th minute that was turned away.  Bochat's free kick turned into another corner kick for the Hawks in the 57^th minute but they were unable to convert.  Altamirano blasted a shot on goal in 63^rd minute but it was turned away by Forsheim.  Bochat had a shot go just over the goal in the 81^st minute.