Tiger soccer team remains in hunt for conference title with a 3-1 road win

Cowley improves its record to 9-1-1 overall and 6-1-1 in the Jayhawk Conference. Barton County, winners of seven games in a row, is 7-2-1 in the conference.

The Conquistadors (9-4-3) fall to 4-4-2 in the conference.

On Wednesday, Cowley sophomore Kanta Ishii broke a scoreless tie by scoring on a penalty kick with 28:55 left in the opening half.

Cowley dominated the first half, out-shooting Dodge City 16-4, yet led only 1-0 after the first 45 minutes of play.

"We had a very good performance, creating many chances," Cowley head coach Marcos Ribeiro said. "In the first half, we had 16 shots but only scored once. So at halftime, I told the boys we needed to be more clinical because Dodge City is a very good team and can score at any time."

The Tigers' continued pressure led to Leonardo Leitao scoring less than four minutes into the second half to increase Cowley's lead to 2-0. Keitatsu Yoshida assisted on the goal.

Ishii added his second goal off an assist from Leitao to give Cowley a 3-0 lead with 18:12 remaining. Ishii leads the Tigers with nine goals on the season.

"The boys came back after halftime and managed to score two more goals, both from very good combinations," Ribeiro said. "It was great that everyone got minutes and contributed to the win."

The Conquistadors would avoid the shutout when Brian Hara scored on a slow-rolling shot with just over three minutes left to play. The goal was just the sixth allowed by the Tigers on the season, and it was not enough for Dodge City as they would go on to the 3-1 defeat.

Cowley dominated the game, outshooting Dodge City 26-11 and 13-6 on shots on goal.

With the conference title still up for grabs, the Tigers will host Coffeyville on Saturday at 7. The Red Ravens are 6-4-6 overall, but only 1-2-5 in the conference.

"The next game is another final, so we need to be ready to take care of business," Ribeiro said.