GLEN ELLYN, Ill. – The third-seeded Harper College team qualified for the national tournament with a 2-1 victory over top-seed College of DuPage in the Region IV championship, the school's third in head coach Dwayne Cruz's 13-year tenure.  The Hawks will begin play at nationals on Nov. 8.
 
Harper (6-10), who also beat DuPage in 2010 for the Region IV title, controlled play in the first half and was rewarded when Stephanie Chaires found the back of the net for a 1-0 lead.
 
We dominated play in the first half and that was good,” Cruz said..  “But didn't finish them off the way that we should have.” 
 
Playing against the wind in the second half, the Hawks knew it would be a battle.  Jacqueline Osborn scored what was the eventual match-winner six minutes into the second half to make it 2-0.  Now, Harper had to play defense.
 
“We knew it would be the longest 38 minutes of our lives,” Cruz said.  “We played well for about 15-20 minutes, high pressure all over the place and they couldn't do much.  Then we had a letdown and the momentum started to change.  That hurt us a little bit.”
 
The Chaparrals cut the lead in half with 17 minutes left to make it 2-1.  But Harper was able to hold on to beat DuPage for the third time this season.
 
“The last 17 minutes was dreadful for us,” Cruz said.  “We couldn't get it together but we held them off and did our job.”