Box Score PALATINE, Ill. – The Harper College men's soccer team won in dominant fashion on Wednesday afternoon in its N4C finale. The Hawks (9-3-3, 8-1-1 N4C) scored six goals in the game's first 25 minutes en route to a 9-0 victory over Milwaukee Area Technical College (0-13, 0-10 N4C).
Raul Alcala (/Schaumburg) got the scoring started in the early going, as he dribbled from the left side and fired a left-footed shot into the net to make it 1-0. Just over three minutes, Alcala got his second goal of the game. Colin O'Meara (Palatine, Ill/Palatine) sent a corner kick into the box, and Alcala sent a perfect header into the net.
In the 16th minute, O'Meara tallied his second assist of the day as he found forward Niko Mihalopoulos (Lake in the Hills, Ill./Huntley) on a little give-and-go. Mihalopoulos, the team's top scorer put a perfect shot into the right side of the goal. O'Meara scored a goal on a failed clear attempt by Milwaukee in the 21st minute to make it a 4-0 game.
Just over two minutes later, Alcala scored his third goal of the contest. He took a pass from Amir Dajini, dribbled a few times, and fired a rocket through traffic and into the right side of the net. Harper made it 6-0 less than two minutes later on a corner kick goal. Fabian Tovar (Palatine, Ill/Palatine) sent a ball into the box, and Mihalopoulos put in second goal of the game.
Later in the half, Kurt Rettke (Hoffman Estates, Ill. /Fremd) scored his first goal of the season off an assist from Michael Rodriguez (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Hoffman Estates). Rettke fired a shot at the left side of the net that tipped of the hands of the Milwaukee keeper Brandon Xopin and into the net. Harper led 7-0 at intermission.
In the second stanza, Tyler Block (/Conant) scored his first college goal to give the Hawks an 8-0 lead in the 56th minute. Jakub Gonda (/Schaumburg) also tallied his second goal of the season in the 60th minute to make it 9-0.
Jacob Goldstein (Buffalo Grove, Ill. /Stevenson ), Matthew Wiklanski (Des Plaines, Ill/Elk Grove), and Marco Gomez (Rolling Meadows, Ill. ) split time in net, with Marco Gomez (Rolling Meadows, Ill. ) (two saves) handling the entire second half.
Harper has earned the No. 1 seed in the region and will await the winner of a Region IV Quarterfinal match. The Hawks will host the Region IV Semifinals on Wednesday, Oct. 21 at 2 PM. If they were to win, they would advance and host the Region IV Championship on Saturday, Oct. 24.
