Box Score Palatine, IL 9/25/2021

Harper defeats Elgin 4-1 at Home.  

The match started off for Harper early, with scoring in the 4th minute. When Osvaldo Rodriguez was able to score off of a nice long ball from Patrick Hopkins.  The next opportunity to score was by Elgin, but was denied by Kyle Varela who made a great point break save in the 15th minute to keep the game 1-0.  Aaron Bustamante would increase the lead for the Hawks 2-0. The  second goal came for the team in the 29th minute, with a smooth pass by Adan Ramirez. 3 minutes following the 2-0 score a Elgin player committed a foul outside of the box, and Adan Ramirez drove in a free kick. He bent the shot elegantly around the defense to beat the keeper on the near post. Harpers' goalie Kyle Varela ended the half with 2 saves and a commanding lead 3-0. 

In the start of the second half, play opened with back and forth between both teams. Harper made a substitution at the beginning of the half putting Martin Wilczek in goal.  Elgin was able to break through in the 55th minute after capitalizing on the Hawks turnover in the defensive third.  In the 69th minute, Osvaldo Rodriguez would draw a foul in the box and earned a penalty kick that Aaron Bustamante would put away. 

The game ended 4-1 in favor of the Hawks. Coach Watson felt, " I thought at times the intensity level could have been higher but we had many sequences where we connected many passes and were able to be dangerous."  

Next game is a conference one Wednesday home to Joliet.