Box Score Daily Herald Article
Updated Region IV Bracket
PALATINE, Ill. – The Harper College men's soccer team saved its best soccer for the end of the season. The top-seeded Hawks squared off with No. 4 seed Rock Valley College in the Region IV Semfinals on Wednesday afternoon played a complete game, dominating their opponents on the way to a 5-0 victory.
With the win, Harper (10-3-3) advances to the Region IV Championship game on Saturday at Harper against No. 3 seed Joliet Junior Junior College (10-7-1), a 3-0 winner at No. 2 seed Madison College on Wednesday.
Overcoming the hurdle of Rock Valley was a big deal for this Hawks group. Last year on the same field in the Region IV Championship, the Golden Eagles scored two second-half goals to top Harper, 2-1. This year, the two teams played to a 2-2 draw in their first meeting on Sept. 12. In the second meeting on Oct. 2, Rock Valley gave Harper its only N4C loss of the year, 1-0.
"It means a lot to us. We had high hopes, and we came in with the right mentality and just brought it to them," said Harper freshman forward Niko Mihaloupoulos. "We did not want to lose this game. We all worked hard, we all pushed each other. We're all happy about this win."
Mihalopoulos was an integral part of the Hawks' offense in the first half. The freshman forward scored the game's first goal in the 12th minute off an assist from Tafara Musiwa (Zimbabwe/St. Xavier). Mihalopulous put the hosts ahead 2-0 in the 29th minute as he stole a pass from Rock Valley defender Drake Szyp, dribbled in, and blasted a shot past Golden Eagles goalkeeper Jesus Galvez. The Hawks led 2-0 at intermission and outshot the Golden Eagles 9-3.
"He's obviously a tough player for the opposition to handle up there," said Harper head coach Dan Klaus. "He got us off to a good start, had a second goal, and created the PK in the second half and had some other good looks besides that as well."
Harper continued to apply pressure in the early stages of the second half and increased its lead. Just over three minutes into the half, Angel Sarti (/Hoffman Estates) blasted a shot off the right post, and the ball ricocheted right back to him in the box. Sarti calmly sent a shot past Galvez to give the Hawks a 3-0 edge. In the 56th minute, Mihalopoulos was tripped inside the box, giving Sarti a penalty kick. The freshman buried the ball in the right side of the net to extend the Harper lead to 4-0.
The Hawks limited Rock Valley scoring chances throughout the match and shut out top scorers David Rebollar (14 goals) and Alexis Galvez (12 goals).
Fabian Tovar (Palatine, Ill/Palatine) scored the Hawks' final goal of the contest on a beautiful cross from Tyler Block (/Conant) in the 79th minute.
"Our passes were more crisp than the last games we played them. Our finishing was more crisp," Mihaloupoulos said. "Defensively, we were very good. We shut their two main players out. Overall, a good performance by the whole team."
Jacob Goldstein (Buffalo Grove, Ill. /Stevenson ) (9-2-3) made two saves in goal and earned the victory. Overall, Klaus was impressed with his team's effort.
"The guys raised our level. They've taken ownership of the team," Klaus said. "Our environment is so competitive on a day in and day out basis, and that's because of them crating that. It kind of just spilled over to today."
The winner of Saturday's game between Harper and Joliet will advance to the District Championship on Saturday, Oct. 31.
Notes: The Hawks have scored 39 goals in 16 games (2.4/game) … Harper has given up only 17 goals (1.1/game) all year … the Hawks have not given up a goal in four straight games and have only given up one goal in the last six games … Mihalopoulos leads the team with 10 goals … Sarti is second on the team with six goals … Colin O'Meara (Palatine, Ill/Palatine) is the team's leader in assists with six … Juan Hernandez (Wheeling, Ill./Wheeling) and Sarti are tied-second on the team with four assists.
