The offense was in high gear Tuesday afternoon at the Barton Sports Complex for the Barton Community College women’s soccer team.
The Lady Cougars put a season-high eight goals on the board as Barton rolled by Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference foe Cowley in an 8-0 shutout.
“We finished opportunities much better than we have been,” Barton head coach Aaron Avila said. “We were able to keep the shutout and correct some mistakes from last week.”
Scarlett Real had a day to remember for the Lady Cougars as the freshman from Dodge City had a foot in six of the eight goals. She scored five goals and added an assist to end the day with 11 points — nearly doubling her season total.
The win kept Barton’s slim hopes of hosting a first-round playoff contest alive as the Lady Cougars improved to 3-3-1 in the Jayhawk and 6-5-2 overall. Cowley fell to 1-7 in the conference and 1-10 overall.
Barton is currently mired in a three-way for fifth in the Jayhawk with 10 points, but moving into the top four is going to be a challenge with three teams still unbeaten and another having just one loss.
Against the Tigers Tuesday, it took a while for the Lady Cougars to put a number on the scoreboard, but once they started they didn’t stop.
Goddard freshman Sydne Harpenau put the Lady Cougars on the board midway through the opening half on an assist from Real.
Real slipped a pass through a pair of Tiger defenders to Harpenau, who buried in the pass into the net.
Eliza Larson followed three minutes later as the Utah freshman scored her first goal of the season on a through ball from Maria Munoz just inside the box. Real scored her first goal of the game in the 38th minute on an assist from Larson following a throw in and Barton went to half up 3-0.
The second half belonged to Real.
She made 4-0 just 10 minutes into the half, receiving a pass from Bre Markham, slipping past a defender then beating the Cowley keeper to the far post.
Barton poured it on in the final 15 minutes.
Real earned her hat trick at 15:43 left on a cross from Harpenau for a 5-0 lead.
Millie York joined the fun as the sophomore defender from England scored the first goal of her Barton career on a free kick for a 6-0 lead.
Real added two more goals in the final 10 minutes, including her fifth and final goal with 27 seconds left in the contest.
It was the second time this season Real had at least four goals in a game.
She leads the Lady Cougars with 11 goals on the season, as well as 23 points.
The Lady Cougars return to action Sunday with a trip to El Dorado to take on Butler.
If the Lady Cougars want any chance of placing in the top four and earning that home game in the post season they must beat the Grizzlies.
“Our main focus is to just keep improving and getting ready for our next conference game,” Avila said.
Butler is currently in fourth with 13 points but have only played five Jayhawk Conference games. The Grizzlies are 4-0-1 in the Jayhawk and 7-3-3 overall.