Tiger men’s soccer team improves to 2-0 with shutout win at Garden City

Opening conference play at Garden City on Sunday, the No. 6-ranked Cowley College men's soccer team imposed its will in a 3-0 win over the Broncbusters.

Sunday's contest was scoreless for the first 41 minutes of the game before the Tigers' Andre Ecker scored on a penalty kick to give Cowley a 1-0 halftime lead.

The Tigers outshot Garden City 16-7 and kept the pressure on in the second half. However, the game would remain 1-0 until midway through the second half when Guilherme Coutinho headed in a goal off an assist from Sota Nakazono to increase Cowley's lead to 2-0.

Four minutes later, Cowley freshman Keitatsu Yoshida scored off an assist from Kanta Ishii, and the Tigers cruised to the 3-0 road win.

Cowley improves its record to 2-0 overall and 1-0 in the conference.

"It was important to start the conference with a road win against a tough Garden City team," Cowley assistant coach Marcos Ribeiro said. "The game was physical and intense, but the guys responded well and maintained control throughout the match."

Garden City falls to 2-1 overall and 0-1 in the conference.

Tiger goalkeeper Kamy Ndione was not challenged much but managed to stop all three shots he faced.

Cowley will return home to face Seward County on Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Saints (1-1-1) battled Kansas City to a scoreless tie in its conference opener.

"We are looking forward to our conference home opener and anticipate another tough game because Seward has performed well in the games we have seen," Ribeiro said. "Our guys have worked hard since preseason and are improving with each game."