TONKAWA, Okla. – A big emphasis for new Barton men’s soccer coach Mike Brown is team.
If each individual does his job, the team will benefit. It’s all about the team.
That philosophy came through victorious in his initial game as the coach for the Cougars. Barton won its season opener Wednesday afternoon over Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa, 2-0.
The win gave the Cougars a 1-0 mark while Tonkawa, playing its third game in six days, fell to an even 2-2.
It was not only the first win of the season but it was the first win in the collegiate coaching career of Coach Brown.
“It was a good result for our team,” Coach Brown said. “The guys came in and did their jobs. We defended well, we made some adjustment on offense and we got the job done.”
The job wasn’t done until the final minutes of the game. The two teams battle scoreless most of the way before Barton finally broke through for a couple goals in the final 20 minutes of play.
Barton was the aggressor most of the contest, getting 12 shots on goal for the game.
“We had a bunch of opportunities but they were not the most efficient opportunities,” Coach Brown said. “They played a flat five across in the back and were hard to break down near the penalty area. We made some tactical changes in the second half that allowed us to isolate them more and gave us some better opportunities.”
Barton finally cashed in one of those opportunities with 18 minutes to play when Luca Perez scored on a loose ball in the box to give Barton a 1-0 lead. It was the first career goal for the freshman from Brazil.
Barton held that uncomfortable 1-0 lead until the final minute when Lucas Alves put the game away with a goal on a feed from Perez with just 30 seconds to play to secure the win.
“That’s the thing with Lucas (Alves), if you give him a chance he will do his thing,” Coach Brown said. “Luca Perez had a great game for us off the bench with the goal and the assist.
“That is the thing about this team. Everyone is ready to step in and contribute at any time.”
Everyone includes JJ Parente who got the start in goal and recorded three saves for the shutout. The low number of shots was thanks in large part to the play of the back row of the Cougars. It was the first time in four games the Mavericks had been shut out.
“We are deep across the back line,” Coach Brown said. “We are a solid team overall but a very good defensive team.
“Northern Oklahoma is a very good team. They are very athletic and are going to have some positive results this year.”
Barton will play its home opener Sunday when Western Nebraska visits the Barton Sports Complex. The Cougars will also be home Friday at 4 pm but that will be an exhibition contest with the Tabor JV.
Barton 2, NO-Tonkawa 0
Barton 0 2 – 2
Tonkawa 0 0 – 0
Barton – Luca Perez, 71:16
Barton – Lucas Alves, 89:30
BCC women fall to No. 20 Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa
TONKAWA, Okla. – It was definitely a tough test right out the gate.
With all the new faces on the Barton women’s soccer team – including a new coach – a trip to a ranked team was not the easiest way to start the season.
The result was a 7-0 loss to No. 20 Northern Oklahoma-Tonkawa to top the 2016 campaign.
“It was a tough day,” first-year Coach Ousmane Camara said. “We have been fighting injuries so we just took 13 girls down. It was hard for the girls to keep up.”
It didn’t help matters that while it was the opener for the Cougars, it was already the fourth game of the season for the Mavericks.
In fact, Tonkawa is now 4-0 against the Jayhawk Conference with wins over Butler, Neosho, and Cowley as well as Barton by a combined 28-1. The only close match was a 2-1 win over Butler – the preseason No. 2 ranked team in the NJCAA.
It didn’t take long for the Mavericks to establish control of the game, taking a 1-0 lead in the opening minutes of play.
By halftime it a 3-0 lead for the host team.
“We were looking forward to it, but we knew it would be tough,” Coach Camara said. “Win, lose or tie I wanted the girls to go there and play hard.
“We just wanted to keep things positive until the game was over. When you get down like you just want to keep them motivated.”
The Mavericks continued to increase their lead in the second half, scoring the opening minutes yet again and rolled to the win.
Giffy Asare had a big game during the damp afternoon with a hat trick. The freshman from Ghana scored once in the opening half and two more times in the second – with three minutes of each other – to lead the Mavericks to the win.
Barton will take the pitch for its home opener Friday when Northeast (Neb) Community College visits the Cougars Sports Complex at 2 pm. Northeast is in its first year as a program. Sunday, Barton will get Western Nebraska in 10 am start at the Complex.
“We are just looking forward to getting back out there and seeing what we can do this weekend,” Coach Camara said.
No. 20 NO-Tonkawa 7, Barton 0
Barton 0 0 – 0
Tonkawa 3 4 – 7
Tonkawa – BreAnn Tolleson, 2:06
Tonkawa – Gifty Asare, 31:13
Tonkawa – Rebekah Brantley, 42:00
Tonkawa – Aby Resendiz, 47:28
Tonkawa – Asare, 57:05
Tonkawa – Asare, 60:21
Tonkawa – Mea Gordon, 79:06
