Schools
UPDATE: Director of Arlington Aces Soccer Leads Harper College to Nationals
The director of Arlington Aces Soccer, takes Harper College women's soccer team to compete in national tournament in New York.
UPDATED: 2:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov 8
Harper College women's soccer teams loses 1-2 to Gloucester County College in the first round of the national tournament in Dryden, New York.
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After winning his third regional title at Harper College, director of Arlington Aces Soccer, Dwayne Cruz, is ready to take Harper’s women’s soccer team to New York to compete in the national tournament Thursday, Nov. 8.
The third-seeded Harper College team qualified for the national tournament with a 2-1 victory over top-seed College of DuPage in the Region IV championship
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The Harper Hawks began the season six and ten (6-10) but the women’s soccer team was able to beat the odds to move on to nationals.
In the first half of the regional game against the College of DuPage, Harper took the lead but a win did not come easy for the team.
“We dominated play in the first half and that was good,” Cruz said, “But didn’t finish them off the way that we should have.” Up 2-0 at the half, Cruz said, “We knew it would be the longest 38 minutes of our lives.”
Defense remained essential as the Hawks fought for the victory. Cruz said the Hawks turned up the pressure for 15 to 20 minutes, “Then we had a letdown and the momentum started to change,” Cruz said, “That hurt us a little bit.”
DuPage cut Harper lead in half with less than 20 minutes on the clock. “The last 17 minutes were dreadful for us,” Cruz said. “We couldn’t get it together but we held them off and did our job.”
The Hawks held on to their lead to win Region IV championship 2-1 and a spot in the national tournament.
Director of Arlington Aces Soccer, Cruz said there is still a lot of work to be down as the Hawks advance to the NJCAA Division III Championship in New York.
The Hawks face Gloucester County College in the first round of the national tournament in Dryden, New York Thursday, Nov. 8.
On behalf of the Arlington Heights Park District, we wish Coach Cruz and the Hawks best of luck this weekend!
Information proved by Arlington Heights Park District and Harper College
