PALATINE, Ill. – Playing a man down for the majority of the game, the Harper College women's soccer team shook off fatigue and defeated South Suburban 2-1 in Palatine on Wednesday night.
Bree Nishibun (Palatine, Ill., Fremd) and Abby Groh (Barrington, Ill., Barrington) scored for the Hawks, who improved to 3-1 on the young season.
After a Hawk player picked up a red card midway through the first half, Harper was forced to play a man down for the duration of the game.
“We were a man down for a while so we were pretty tired the whole game,” said head coach Dwayne Cruz. “But going through this will get us prepared for October when playoffs start.”
In the 27th minute, Chloe Takala (Hoffman Estates, Ill., Fremd) sent a corner kick into the box and Nishibun put it into the back the net. South Suburban answered with a goal in the second half but Groh countered with the game-winner in the 60th minute. Nishibun got credited with the assist for Groh's beautiful upper-90 floater.
“Those two kids haven't scored yet so it was great to see them find the back of the net,” Cruz said.
Harper is back in action on Wednesday with another home match against Joliet. First kick is scheduled for 4 p.m.
