PALATINE, Ill. – The 2012 season started off well for the Harper College women's soccer team as an early goal from Marisa Andreuccetti (Elk Grove Village, Ill./Conant) put the Hawks up a tally, but three unanswered goals from Joliet Junior College were too much for Harper to overcome in a 4-2 defeat.
 
Andreuccetti scored the team's first goal of the season in the 19^th minute.  Danyel Boliaux (Lake Zurich/Lake Zurich) sent a ball through the middle and into the box and Andreuccetti raced to track it down.  With a defender still on her left hip, Andreuccetti dribbled to the right and beat the Joliet goalkeeper with a rocket just inside the right post.
 
Britney Lenza scored goals in the 25^th minute and 28^th minute to give the Wolves the lead and after shooting one over the goal in the 25^th minute, Eloisa Mireles converted in the 41^st minute for a 3-1 halftime lead over the Hawks.
 
Harper (0-1, 0-1 N4C) put the pressure on Joliet (1-0, 1-0) in the second half as Mitshi Ishioka (Carlsbad, Calif./Carlsbad) found Andreucetti inside the box but her shot sailed just over the goal.  In the 63^rd minute, though, the Hawks broke through.  Andreuccetti fired a shot on goal and the shot was blocked by Joliet goalkeeper Lauren Fowler, but Bree Nishibun (Palatine, Ill./Fremd) was there for the rebound and easy goal.
 
“I told them at halftime that if our work rate was better, if we were fit and pressured up top, we would be successful,” said head coach Dwayne Cruz.  “We did that for the first 20 minutes and could have made it 3-3. 
 
Just three minutes later, Ishioka and Abby Groh (Barrington, Ill./Barrington) worked together to get the ball into the box and cause a Joliet foul, awarding Ishioka a penalty kick.  But her ensuing attempt was no good.
 
“We missed the penalty kick to tie it, and that changed the game,” Cruz said.  “They were panicked a little bit.  We made a mistake, and it put the momentum in their hands.  I told our girls that in October, we will be successful with that.”
 
Mireles added a late goal in the 75^th minute when she broke free from the Harper defense to set the final score at 4-2.
 
“I'm happy with them so far,” Cruz said.  “For the first game, we did pretty well.”
 
Up next, Harper will face Triton on Wednesday.  Kickoff is scheduled for 4:00 PM in River Grove.