Barton wraps up 2nd seed with win over Butler; Bernardes breaks assist record
The Barton Community College women’s soccer team wrapped up the 2nd seed in the upcoming Region VI playoffs and at least a share of 2nd place in the Jayhawk Conference. The Cougars did so Saturday in a battle of 1-loss conference teams when Barton edged Butler 4-3 at Cougar Fields in Great Bend. Earlier in the week Barton won a 7-0 contest at Garden City. Barton is now 14-3 overall and 9-1 in the West while Butler falls to 12-5-1 and 7-2. Barton has just one game remaining in the regular season as Allen County visits Cougars Fields Tuesday for a 2 pm kick off.
Highlights
Barton never trailed in the contest with Butler Saturday but the Grizzlies were always in striking distance of the Cougars. Barton took a lead early in the contest when Shala Giardini took a thru ball from Flavia Bernardes and beat the Butler keeper one on one just 6 minutes into the game. That lead didn’t last long as Butler answered back in just more than one minute later to even the game.
Another flurry of scoring took place with 20 minutes left in the half, started by Theresa Crane when she took a ball from Danielle Mayo and booted into the net by way of the Butler keeper. The ball bounced off the keeper and into the net for a 2-1 lead. The Cougars pushed it to 3-1 only 4 minutes later as Paige Christiansen scored off a Bernardes corner kick for a brief 2-goal lead. Just 1:14 after the Christiansen goal, Butler cut it to 3-2 on a Sade Humphrey goal and that is how the game went to intermission.
The game stayed 3-2 most of the final 45 minutes. Barton looked like it had a good grasp on the win when Theresa Crane scored on an assist from Giardini with just more than 10 minutes to play in the game to give Barton a 4-2 lead. But Butler again answered back and got within striking distance with 5:30 to play in the game on Ortensia Alcantara’s 2nd goal of the game, cutting the margin to 4-3.
That is where the game would stay as the Cougars (10-1 in the region) secured the No. 2 seed in the Region VI tournament starting next week. Barton still has an outside shot at the No. 1 seed but Hutchinson (10-0 in the region) would have to lose to Cloud and Coffeyville to end the season.
Barton struggled for a half at Garden City Wednesday night, coming on the heels of a big win over Johnson County and a game prior to the Butler showdown. The Cougars led just 1-0 at halftime but found its offense early in the 2nd half to put the game away. The Cougars scored twice in the opening 6 minutes of the 2nd half and 4 times before 25 minutes went by then cruised to a 7-0 win. Giardini scored 3 goals in the win to add to her NJCAA leading total, which stands at 52 after the goal against Butler.
Bernardes had 2 assists in the win to give her more assists in a single season than any other Cougar ever. Bernardes had been tied with Yesenia Garcia with 23 assists in a year but passed her with the 1st assists at Garden. With her 2 assists against Garden and 2 more against Butler, she now has 27 on the year. Bernardes (40) and Crane (39) are battling to see who will be the career leader in assists at season’s end. The duo is 1-2 all-time.
Barton will finish the regular season Tuesday against Allen County. The Red Devils will bring a 4-10 record into the game battling for one of the final 8 spots in the playoffs.
Stats
Stats can be found at www.bartonccc.edu/sports
Next
Oct 20 – v Allen 2 pm (Jayhawk Conference match at Cougar Fields in Great Bend)
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Check out Barton Soccer Online at www.bartonccc.edu/sports
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