Harvard advances – at last

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HARVARD – The most meaningful win of the season could come Tuesday, but Saturday the Harvard girls soccer team was content to celebrate what it already had.

The Hornets broke a seven-year streak of postseason losses Saturday with a 2-1 victory against Winnebago in the IHSA Class 1A Harvard Regional semifinal. The win earned the second-seeded Hornets a berth in the regional title match Tuesday against top-seeded Rockford Lutheran, an 8-0 winner against Galena in Saturday’s first semifinal.

The long-awaited victory was especially significant to seniors Brenda Lemus and Taryn Stricker, who each scored against the Indians in the first postseason win of their varsity careers.

“(Harvard) girls soccer hasn’t done anything in a while,” Stricker said. “It’s big. We’d like to be able to play well and win our regional.”

The Hornets (9-7) missed a few scoring opportunities early in the first half, but controlled the tempo until Lemus saw a legitimate chance unfold.

The center midfielder won the ball on the right side of the field and launched a shot just under the crossbar and into the right corner to open a one-goal advantage with 24 minutes remaining in the first half.

Stricker took four shots in the next 15 minutes before connecting for the Hornets’ second goal. Stricker won the ball in the midfield and split four defenders to send a shot into the center of the net for a 2-0 cushion with 4:12 left in the first.

“We wanted to give ourselves a little breathing room,” Stricker said. “We felt a little better about where we were after that.”

The Hornets beat the Indians, 2-0, during the regular season, and the Hornets were aware of the areas they could exploit.

“We definitely tried to use our speed to our benefit today,” Stricker said. “We wanted to win every ball and get to everything first because we felt like we were a little quicker.”

“We have some speed and some skill at a lot of positions,” Harvard coach David Abel said. “When you blend those together is when you get the advantage.”

The Indians pressured the Hornets in the second half and snuck in a goal with 2:11 remaining in the match to put Harvard on alert.

“We weren’t too worried; we knew we could pull through,” Lemus said.

Rockford Lutheran won the 2007 former Class A state title and has routinely fielded strong teams, and Abel said Tuesday’s title match will be intense.

“We will be at home; that’s one positive,” Abel said. “We had a great turnout today, and we expect a great turnout Tuesday, too. Rockford Lutheran is a very good team, and we’re excited for the chance to play. We’ll be ready to compete for a regional title.”