Barton hands Cowley men’s soccer its first loss
In a matchup of top-10 teams, the No. 8-ranked Barton College men’s soccer team handed the No. 3-ranked Cowley College Tigers their first defeat with a 1-0 victory over Cowley on Saturday in Great Bend, KS.
Barton, winners of four games in a row, moves into first place in the Jayhawk Conference standings with 19 points at 6-2-1 and 12-3-2 overall, although having played two more conference matches than the Tigers, who sit second with 16 points at 5-1-1 and 8-1-1 on the year.
Aided by a heavy 30-plus mile-per-hour wind in the opening half, Cowley outshot Barton 6-3 but were unable to break through as the game was scoreless through 45-minutes.
The Cougars would benefit from having the wind at their backs in the second half and went in front 1-0 when Masaki Tsuji scored his team leading 14th goal of the season.
Barton outshot Cowley 5-2 in the second half and held on to win as Cougar goalkeeper Gabriel Bergamin stopped both shots he faced to help Barton avenge a 2-1 loss at Cowley on September 24.
"It was a tough game, just as we expected," Cowley head coach Marcos Ribeiro said. "The result wasn't what we wanted, and I believe we were the best team for most of the game, even when we played against the wind. The issue was that we didn't capitalize on the chances we had, and they scored on the one they had."
The Tigers will play at No. 11-ranked Dodge City (9-3-3) on Wednesday at 6 p.m. The Conquistadors are in third place in the conference with a record of 4-3-2.
"Wednesday will again be a tough match, another ranked opponent that is having a great season," Ribeiro said. "We need to be ready and go there hungry to get the win."