A shutout marked the end of the regular season for the Barton Community College women’s soccer team on Wednesday afternoon at the Cougars soccer/track complex.
The Lady Cougars beat Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference opponent Kansas City Kansas, 4-0.
“Well, we won the game,” Barton head coach Aaron Avila said. “Obviously, that was the first thing. We wanted to get a win to shore up third place in the conference. We wanted to keep a shutout, that’s the next thing. Then we just didn’t want to get anybody else hurt. That was the biggest thing.
“I think we accomplished all three.”
The Lady Cougars, who are ranked 17th in the latest National Soccer Coaches Association of America poll, secured a No. 3 seed for the NJCAA Region VI tournament, which starts on Monday with a home game for Barton.
Lady Cougars freshman forward Bianca Barron scored two goals to move up to No. 2 in the school’s single-season scoring list with 28.
Only Shala Giardini has scored more goals in a single season than Barron, finishing with 58 in 2009.
“It feels great,” Barron said. “I’ve been having such a great season with my team. At first, we didn’t really quite understand the seven-field, but then we started to get to know each other. We just feel great being a team together.”
Barron had a goal and an assist in the first half, breaking a scoreless tie with a goal on a Ruth Cazier assist.
Barron returned the favor, dishing a pass in to Cazier, who made it 2-0 at halftime.
Barton took 29 shots in the game, recording 20 in the first half with the wind, which was a factor during the game.
“We didn’t have as many shots in the second half, obviously, going against the wind,” Avila said. “But we controlled the ball, which is what we wanted to do. We wanted to limit their shots.”
Barron scored again with 39 minutes remaining in the game, getting an assist from Olimpia Bonilla.
Molly Hausmann scored the final goal of the game with 22 minutes remaining. Jessica Rosenberg was there for an assist.
Barton will be going into Monday’s postseason game down two players.
“Mariana (Poveda) got injured in the Cowley game, and Berenice (Prieto) got injured in the Butler game, so they’re both out with season-ending injuries,” Avila said. “Hopefully, everything goes well and they’ll be healthy for next year.
“We’ve had players step up and they’ve done well. We just don’t need any more injuries.”
The Lady Cougars will host the No. 6 seed in the tournament.