It was an opportunity to get back in the thick of the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference race.
With one of the conference leaders coming to town, the Barton women’s soccer team could make a statement and put itself in the mix. But it wasn’t to be.
Johnson County wasted little time in gaining control of the match and rolled to a 3-0 win over the Lady Cougars.
The Cavaliers took the lead less than 10 minutes into the contest and poured on three first-half goals as they stayed unbeaten and untied in the Jayhawk. Johnson is now 3-0 in the league and 7-3 overall. Butler is the only other unbeaten and untied team at 2-0 while Hutchinson (3-0-1) and Allen (2-0-1) also remain unbeaten.
Barton fell to 2-2-1 in the Jayhawk and now stand at 4-4-2 overall with the setback at the Barton Sports Complex.
Johnson jumped to a 1-0 lead as Jenn Howell scored at the 7:24 mark off a corner kick.
The Cavaliers pushed the lead to 2-0 at the midway point of the opening half when Sydney Alexander found the net on a shot in the box. Mackenzie Cox put the Lady Cougars in a deeper hole when she scored on an assist from Annie Poelzl in the 38th minute.
“We just made too many mistakes defensively in the first half and gave up three goals,” Barton head coach Aaron Avila said. “We put ourselves in a big hole.”
The Lady Cougars were able to put some pressure on the Cavaliers in the second half, getting five shots on goal but none were able to get past Johnson keeper Racheal Bovitz.
Aliya Marshall paced the attack with three of Barton’s nine shots, including two of the six shots on goal.
“We had a much better performance in the second half and controlled the play in the second half,” Avila said. “But we were not able to be sharp enough in front of their goal.
“We just couldn’t convert any of the chances we created and couldn’t get on the scoreboard to put pressure on them.”
The Lady Cougars will step out of the conference when they travel to Hesston College tonight for a 5 p.m. kick.