Joliet Junior College women's soccer kicked off the 2025 season with a commanding performance Friday, defeating Harper College, 8-0. The match was ended early in the second half due to the mercy rule.
The Wolves (1-0) came out firing from the opening whistle. In the 5th minute, freshman Sophia Rausa buried a free kick to start the scoring. Ten minutes later, freshman Cayla Koranda followed up a rebound to make it 2-0.
Freshman Julissa Calderon then struck twice, scoring in the 20th and 25th minutes after capitalizing on goalkeeper errors. Freshman Victoria Davila added another in the 30th minute to extend the Wolves' lead to 5-0.
After that, play slowed down but JJC continued to dominate possession. In the final minute of the half, Koranda struck again to give the Wolves a 6-0 halftime lead.
The second half opened at a slower pace, but JJC's attack soon picked back up.
Koranda completed her hat trick in the 50th minute, before sophomore Gloria Barrios closed the scoring in the 60th minute with a cross that found the back of the net to finish off the shutout.
"Today's performance wouldn't have been possible without my teammates," said Koranda. "They were unselfish and kept setting me up with perfect passes. The team felt really connected, and even when mistakes happened, we picked each other up."
Wolves head coach Henry Cheung praised his team's effort.
"I'm really proud of the way the team came out strong, stuck to the game plan, and executed," Cueung said. "It feels great to start 1-0 going into the weekend. At the same time, we know there are still areas to improve, especially finishing some missed chances, and we'll work on that this week."
Next up for the Wolves is a home matchup against Truman College on Wednesday at 3 p.m.
