HESSTON — Shutouts seem to the theme for the Barton Community College women’s soccer team this year.
Be it on the winning or losing end, the Lady Cougars have been involved in nine shutouts in just 11 overall contests.
This were no different Tuesday night in Hesston as the Lady Cougars came away on the winning end of a shutout for the fifth time this season, blanking the Larks 3-0 in non-conference play. It was the seventh straight game the Lady Cougars have played in a shutout.
The win moved Barton to 5-4-2 and an impressive 3-1 on the road. The lone road loss this season came in conference play to unbeaten Allen County. The loss dropped Hesston to 3-5-1.
“We controlled the entire game for the most part,” Barton head coach Aaron Avila said. “Our play in the attacking third was still lacking but we did enough to put three of our chances away.”
Barton took a 1-0 lead in the match when Maria Rodriquez scored on a header in the game’s 10th minute.
The Garden City freshman headed the ball in off a Millie York free kick for her first goal of the season and the team-leading fifth assist for York.
That is how the game went to halftime as neither team could score the final 35 minutes of the opening half.
It took 15 more minutes of play in the second half before the Lady Cougars could put some separation between themselves and the Larks.
That is when sophomore Aliya Marshall scored the first of her two goals on the night. Marshall got by a Lark defender in the box and put the ball past the keeper.
The Wichita sophomore scored her fifth goal of the season in the 79th minute when she beat the Larks defense down the field on a dribble from midfield and drove the ball past a laid out effort from the Larks’ keeper for the nail in the coffin.
Barton will now get some time off to prepare for its battle with Hutchinson. The Blue Dragons will come to the Cougars Sports Complex Oct. 1 following an 8-day layoff for the Lady Cougars.
“We have a week before we resume play,” Avila said. “We will have to improve during this time.”
Hutch is currently 3-0-1 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference and ranked No. 20 in the latest NJCAA poll. Barton is 2-2-1 in conference play.