It doesn’t matter by how much you win, just that you win.
That is the mantra of teams in the postseason. And that was the case on a windy Sunday afternoon at the Barton Sports Complex as Barton Community College held on for a 2-1 win over Neosho in the opening round of NJCAA Region VI men’s soccer action.
The Cougars, the No. 2 seed in the region, jumped out to a 2-0 lead then held on for the win against the No. 7 seed.
With winds blowing steadily from 30-40 mph, the Cougars took advantage in the opening 45 minutes with the wind at their backs.
The win moves Barton into semifinal action.
“The guys put in a great effort in very difficult windy conditions,” Cougars head coach Kevin Kewley said. “It was never going to be easy playing pretty soccer, but we got the lead and had chances to put the game away.”
Barton will tangle with No. 3 seed Cloud County on Thursday at 6:30 p.m. at Hummer Sports Complex in Topeka.
Barton will bring an 11-4-1 mark into the contest while Cloud is 11-8. Cloud defeated Dodge City by a 2-0 count in the opening round.
The Cougars were sailing along in the opening half on Sunday afternoon.
Christopher Hogg put the Cougars on the board in the opening minutes, as the Scotland freshman put a free kick into the net on a ball misplayed by the Neosho keeper thanks to the breezy conditions.
The wind also helped Barton on its second goal as Dinafor Kori lobbed the ball from near midfield to Mariano Gelso in the right side of the box. Gelso beat Neosho keeper Gurjinder Brar for a 2-0 lead in the 30th minute of the opening half.
Barton put eight shots on goal in the opening half to just one by Neosho.
The second half was an entirely different situation with the Panthers having the wind at their back. It didn’t take long for Neosho to make things interesting.
The Panthers’ Nelson Landaverde scored in the 10th minute to make it a 2-1 and from there, Barton simply held on.
Barton keeper Mauricio Vargas recorded six second-half saves while the Cougars could only put two shots on goal during the final 45 minutes.
“Neosho pressured us in the second half when they had the wind, but we showed a lot of character and got the win.” Kewley said.
Barton turns its focus to Cloud County for its next round. The two teams haven’t played since Sept. 12, when Barton traveled to Concordia and came home with a 2-0 win.
“Cloud has a very talented team, so it’s not going to easy,” Kewley said. “We beat them 2-0 in Concordia earlier in the season, the guys know it’s going be a very, very tough game.”