Box Score PALATINE, Ill. – The Harper College men's soccer team held a commanding 4-1 lead over Triton College with 10 minutes left on Wednesday. However, the Trojans (3-1, 2-1 N4C) made it very interesting with two late goals to cut the deficit to 4-3.
The Hawks (3-1-1, 3-0 N4C) stood strong in the closing few minutes to preserve a 4-3 victory and stay unbeaten in N4C play.
Triton struck first in the game in the sixth minute as Alexis Monteon took a feed from Daniel Eufracio and sent a blast from just outside the box into the left side of the net and past Harper goalkeeper Jacob Goldstein (Buffalo Grove, Ill. /Stevenson ). The Hawks got on the scoreboard in the 24th minute as Colin O'Meara (Palatine, Ill/Palatine) sent a ball into the box. In the scramble, Raul Alcala (/Schaumburg) came up with the ball and put goalkeeper Christian Carrasco.
Harper struck again just over three minutes later as Tafara Musiwa (Zimbabwe/St. Xavier) found a seam in the defense and streaked towards the goal. He was met and tripped by Carrasco, and the ball caromed over to Angel Sarti (/Hoffman Estates). Sarti tapped the ball into the net for his second goal of the season to give the Hawks a 2-1 edge.
Harper carried the momentum over into the second half. Forward Niko Mihalopoulos (Lake in the Hills, Ill./Huntley) took a high, bouncing ball from midfielder Juan Hernandez (Wheeling, Ill./Wheeling), split two defenders, and beat Carrasco to give the Hawks a 3-1 advantage in the 66th minute. Just 2 ½ minutes, it was Hernandez who found the back of the net, as he took a pass from Jaime Quintana (Lake in the Hills, Ill./Huntley) and blasted a shot into the right corner of the net, freezing Carrasco, that made it 4-1.
The Hawks seemed to be in control, but the Trojans began to apply more consistent pressure and put more shots on net. Monteon scored for the second time in the game on a blast past Goldstein from point-blank range off a pass from Raymundo Manjarre to cut the Harper lead to 4-2. Monteon completed the hat trick in the 87th minute with a headed goal off a cross from Brian Tapia to bring the score to 4-3.
In the closing minutes, Harper controlled the ball with precise passing and cleared the ball out of its zone when necessary, securing the victory.
Goldstein (3-1-1) made 13 saves in the net to earn his third straight win. Carrasco (1-1) was the losing goalkeeper.
Next up for the Hawks is a trip to defending Region IV Champion Rock Valley College (3-2, 1-2 N4C). The match is set to start at 1 PM on Saturday afternoon in Rockford.
