The NJCAA No. 2-ranked Barton Community College men’s soccer team beat Neosho County in dominating fashion on Wednesday, 6-0.
The Cougars moved up a notch after being ranked No. 3 in the previous national poll.
The win boosts BCC’s overall record to 5-1, 3-0 in the NJCAA Region VI and 2-0 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Western Division.
The Cougars scored their six goals from six different players.
“We played really well today,” BCC head coach Oliver Twelvetrees said. “It was one of our best performances of the season, so far. We just played very hard from the first whistle.
“Neosho didn’t have one shot on goal the entire game.”
Defender Italo Arcelino got the Cougars started, according the Twelvetrees, who said that once they got their first goal, the points kept coming.
“It took a bit of time before the first goal,” Twelvetrees said. “It was probably 25 minutes before Italo scored, but then we kept scoring about every 10 minutes.”
Yannick Iwunze, Vinicius Braga, Ahmad Bah, Joey Ekstam and Ezequiel Alvarez each had goals during the shutout.
As for the No. 2 ranking, Twelvetrees said that he is trying to keep his team grounded.
“We were ranked No. 2 in 2008,” Twelvetrees said. “That’s the highest ranking that we have had. It would have been nice to beat (top-ranked) Tyler (Texas). I’m just trying to keep their feet on the ground and keep them focused for the next game.”
The Cougars travel to Overland Park to challenge Johnson County on Saturday, starting at 3 p.m.
• Da Silva named KJCCC
Player of the Week
Barton Community College volleyball player Paula da Silva has been named the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Verizon Wireless Player of the Week.
Da Silva, a freshman middle blocker from Uberlandia, Brazil, recorded 16 kills with zero errors in 19 attempts. It also included eight kills in her first eight attempts.
She has also helped lead the No. 12-ranked Lady Cougars to an 8-0 start on the season and 24 straight set victories.
Barton will travel to Twin Falls, Idaho, later this week to take on nationally ranked teams in the College of Southern Idaho Tournament.
On Friday, the Lady Cougars will face their first challenge of the tournament, playing No. 9-ranked College of Southern Idaho at 2 p.m., followed by Yavapai College at 4.
Saturday’s schedule doesn’t offer any relief as Barton will play No. 20 North Idaho College at noon, No. 4-ranked Miami-Dade College at 2 p.m. and then wrap up tournament play at 6 p.m. against No. 7 Salt Lake Community College.
• BCC women win second
straight conference game
The Barton Community College women’s soccer team won its second straight victory against a Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Western Division opponent on Wednesday.
The Cougars advance to 3-3 overall, 2-0 in the conference, with a 1-0 win against Neosho County.
BCC head coach Shawn Uhlenhake said that his four defenders were the heroes in the close match.
“The score was what it was,” Uhlenhake said. “We got on them early and then buckled down. The four that played in the backfield did really well. It was a collective effort. They organized back there and kept everyone going.”
Monica McCarthy, Rachel Ukena, Deedra Richard and Katy Kreutzer were the four strting defenders for Barton.
Kaylee Kershner, a Great Bend High School graduate, scored the lone goal in the game to give Barton the win.
The Cougars take on Johnson County at Overland Park on Saturday afternoon at 1. The game in Overland Park begins a four-game conference road series that takes Barton to Cloud County (Concordia), Hutchinson and Dodge City.
“We’ve had some timely wins,” Uhlenhake said of his team’s start to conference play. “We’ve talked about the next four games. We wanted to go into the road games with some energy and it needed to start against Neosho.”
— Kevin Price
