The unbeaten start is over. Thanks to a team that has become a tough out for the Barton Community College men’s soccer team.

Pratt put an end to the unbeaten season by knocking off the Cougars Tuesday afternoon at the Cougar Soccer Complex. It is the third straight season Pratt has beaten Barton.

Pratt took advantage of a strong south wind in the second half, scoring both its goals on the way to a 2-1 win. The win kept Pratt unbeaten in Jayhawk Conference play with a 3-0 mark. The Beavers are 4-1 overall. KCK (1-0) is now the only other unbeaten in league play.

Barton dropped to 1-1 in the Jayhawk and 6-1 overall.

“We were not able to finish any of our opportunities during the first half,” coach Aaron Avila said. “Two costly mistakes during the second half resulted in both goals for Pratt.”

The Cougars had the 25-30 mph south wind to their back in the first half but could not take advantage of it. Barton had its chances but put only three shots on goal during the half.

Pratt would make them pay for missing out on that first half advantage.

The Beavers wasted little time with the wind at their back. Pratt scored in the opening four minutes of the second half when Declan Fitzpatrick scored on an assist from Julio Velmas with 41:42 left in the game.

Pratt took control of the game 10 minutes later when Jordan Stubbings found the net on a pass from  Lewis Verdow. That goal put Barton in deep trouble trailing by two with 31:07 left and playing into the strong wind.

The Cougars never threatened the rest of the way scoring their only goal with just 42 seconds to play. Matt Sherrod put Barton on the board with a rebound off a Renan Sousa shot.

The Cougars will step out of conference play at 3 p.m. Friday when they host the Bethany JV.  Following that outing Barton will hit the meat of its schedule. The Cougars will have six straight Jayhawk contests – four of those on the road.

“We will learn from this result and keep improving and getting ready for our next conference game,” coach Avila said.