Box Score PALATINE, Ill. – Playing its second game in as many days, the Harper College women's soccer team took an early 1-0 lead on Saturday afternoon against visiting Rochester Community & Technical College. However, the Yellow Jackets scored three unanswered goals to top the Hawks, 3-1.
Harper (2-4) got on the scoreboard in the 26th minute as midfielder Courtney Russ (/Lake Zurich) sent a ball into the box that found the foot of Danielle Reptowski (Hanover Park, Ill./Schaumburg), who found an open Tatiana Rauch (Cary, Ill./Cary-Grove) right in front of the goal. Rauch calmly tapped the ball in the net for her first career college goal.
Rochester (2-2) tied the game in the 43rd minute. Abby Ramierez found Hayley Aranda up the left side, and Hawks goalkeeper Nicole Soderholm (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) came to the edge of the box to make a play on the ball. However, Aranda put the ball past Soderholm into an open net to make it 1-1 heading into halftime.
Both teams settled in defensively for the first part of the second half, but the Yellow Jackets began to possess the ball consistently in the Harper zone. Rochester's Takota Tierney scored the go-ahead goal in the 75th minute after the Hawks failed to clear the ball out of their zone. Tierney got a pass from Aranda and used her left foot to place a shot perfectly in the lower left corner of the net and give the visitors a 2-1 edge.
The Hawks had some quality chances to tie the game in the closing minutes but could not capitalize. The Yellow Jackets put the game away in the 86th minute on a left-footed blast from Ramierez.
Rochester outshot Harper, 26-24, and put 18 shots on goal compared to 10 for the Hawks. Yellow Jackets goalkeeper Maddie Hardtke made nine saves for the victory, and Hawks goalkeeper Nicole Soderholm (Arlington Heights, Ill./Buffalo Grove) (0-1) was credited with the loss despite making 15 saves.
The Hawks will have a little breather before they return to the pitch on Wednesday afternoon at home against N4C opponent Triton College (0-4-1, 0-2-1 N4C).
