PALATINE, Ill. – Playing short-handed for most of the season paid off for the Harper College women's soccer team, as a well-conditioned Hawks squad defeated Joliet Junior College 4-1 in Region IV semifinal action on Tuesday afternoon in Palatine.  Leah Tednes (Hoffman Estates, Ill., Hoffman Estates) scored three goals, sandwiched around a Bree Nishibun (Palatine, Ill., Fremd) score, as the Hawks led 3-0 just 20 minutes into the match.
 
Harper (9-6) sent a message right away to Joliet (7-8) by striking within the first two minutes.  Amanda Herdegen (Hoffman Estates, Ill., Fremd) headed a ball ahead to Tednes, who did the rest.  The forward took the lead pass and found the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.
 
The Hawks extended their lead in the 18^th minute, thanks to a hand ball.  After a Chaparral defender touched the ball with her hands in the box, Harper was awarded a penalty kick.  Nishibun calmly sank the shot, placing the ball just inside the right post.
 
Nishibun sent a beautiful lead pass to Tednes, who easily outran a Chaparral defender to the ball.  Once in the box, Tednes took her time and beat the Joliet goalkeeper with a low ball towards the left post to make it 3-0 just 20 minutes into the match.
 
Joliet got on the board in the 48^th minute with a goal on a penalty kick, but it was too little, too late.  The Chaparral's actually dominated possession in the second half after Herdegen sat out with an injury, leaving Harper a player down.  Hawks goalkeeper Elyce Dye (Arlington Heights, Ill., Hersey) made saves when she had to, including a diving attempt in the 47^th minute and turning away a well-struck ball in the 75^th minute.
 
Tednes completed the hat trick in the 81^st minute to give the Hawks a much needed insurance goal and all but end the match.
 
Harper advances to the Region IV championship game on Saturday to face top-seed College of DuPage.  The second-seeded Hawks lost to the Chaparrals in both meetings this year, 6-2 on October 7 and 3-1 on September 7.
 
“The whole thing for Saturday is going to be a great work rate,” said head coach Dwayne Cruz.  “If we have a great work rate for COD, we're going to beat them.  Today we played 25 minutes of bad soccer in the second half.  We  got lazy because we were winning.  We can't do that against COD because they'll take advantage of our laziness.  But the question is, can we put them out of business early like we did today against Joliet?  We have more firepower than any other team in the region.  But it depends on who comes to play.”