WICHITA – It came down to a tie-breaker. But that tie-breaker was not the Barton men’s soccer teams’ friend.
All three teams went 1-1 in Barton’s pool at the NJCAA Championships at Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita.
At stake for the pool champion was a trip to the semifinals that takes place today.
But Barton came up short in the tie-breaker.
The Cougars won their pool play opener, a 2-1 win over Coastal Bend Sunday afternoon. This, after the No. 11 seed Coastal Bend upset the No. 2 seed and pool favorite Salt Lake in the opening round by a 1-0 score.
That put Barton in control of its own destiny. A win and Barton is on the semifinals. A loss and goal differential could come into play.
It ended up the latter. A 2-goal loss. That 3-1 Cougar setback gave Salt Lake the goal differential it needed to move on as Pool B champion.
In the loss to Salt Lake, the Bruins came out with a purpose, scoring twice in the game’s first 10 minutes.
Salt Lake went up 1-0 only 7:53 into the match when Taimu Okiyoshi connected on a free kick from just outside the 8-yard box.
It took less than two minutes to make it a 2-0 contest. This time Ryen Jiba got a rebound off a save by Barton keeper Yuki Nishigaki near the goal and put it in the net 9:18 into the match.
That gave Salt Lake the margin it needed to advance.
The Bruins added a little insurance just before half as Okiyoshi scored his second goal of the game, this time on a counter attack with just more than three minutes to play in the half.
Salt Lake went to half up 3-0.
The Cougars weren’t done as they tried to claw to within a single goal for its opportunity to advance to the semifinals.
Barton got the lead down to 3-1 20 minutes into the second half when Felipe D’Agostini scored his team-leading 14th goal of the season.
But the final 25 minutes would not yield a second Cougar goal as Salt Lake fought off numerous Barton opportunities.
Barton put itself in control of its destiny with a 2-1 to open pool play.
The Cougars fell behind in that opener, as Coastal Bend scored in the game’s first six minutes. Coastal Bend netted a corner kick as Charlie Ward went up to head in Thomas Williams’ corner.
Barton would have the answer midway through the first half.
The Cougars got on the board when Shizu Yohena broke down a pair of defenders then shaped a shot just inside the far post from 18 yards outs. That evened the score at 1-all with 21:05 to play.
Before halftime would hit, Genildo Postimo gave the Cougars a lead.
Postimo received a thru ball from Pasquale Degaetano and hammered home a shot from 18 yards to give Barton the lead. The goal was the fifth of the season for Postimo.
Both teams attacked the goal in the second half as Coastal Bend got off 13, putting six on goal – all of which were turned away by Nishigaki. Barton had 10 shots of its own with four on goal.
Barton’s season ends with a 13-3-1 record and the school’s fifth trip to the NJCAA National Tournament.
Salt Lake will take its 14-1-1 mark to the semifinals to take on the tournaments fifth seed and Pool D winner Harcum. Harcum is 13-0 this season.
The other semifinal will pit the No. 1 seed Iowa Western with a 15-0-2 record against a surprise pool winner in Iowa Lakes.
Iowa Lakes received an at large bit and the 10th seed in the tournament. But the Lakers won Pool C, beating No. 3 Daytona and No. 6 Tyler.
Iowa Lakes is 12-4-1 on the year and will be meeting Iowa Western for the fifth time this season. The two met twice in the regular season, in the Region XI title game and again in the Midwest District Championship match.
Three of Iowa Lakes’ four losses are to Iowa Western.
The two teams tied the district title game but Iowa Western won in a shootout for the automatic bid to the NJCAA Tournament.
Semifinals will be today at 4 and 7 pm.
2 Salt Lake 3, 7 Barton 1
Barton 0 1 – 1
Salt Lake 3 0 – 3
Salt Lake – Okiyoshi, 7:53
Salt Lake – Jiba (Owusu), 9:18
Salt Lake – Okiyoshi (Johnson), 41:52
Barton – D’Agostini, 64:58
7 Barton 2, 11 Coastal Bend 1
Coastal Bend 1 0 – 1
Barton 2 0 – 2
Coastal Bend – Ward (Williams), 5:46
Barton – Yohena, 23:55
Barton – Postimo (Degaetano), 39:52
NJCAA Championships
at Wichita
Stryker Sports Complex
Pool Play
Pool A
June 5 – 1 Iowa Western 1, 12 Laramie 0
June 6 –12 Laramie 3, 8 LSU Eunice 2
June 7 – 1 Iowa Western 1, 12 LSU Eunice 0
Pool B
June 5 –11 Coastal Bend 1, 2 Salt Lake 0
June 6 – 7 Barton 2, 11 Coastal Bend 1
June 7 – 2 Salt Lake 3, 7 Barton 1
Pool C
June 5 - 10 Iowa Lakes 1, 3 Daytona St 0
June 6 - 10 Iowa Lakes 1, 6 Tyler 0
June 7 - 6 Tyler 2, 3 Daytona St 1
Pool D
June 5 - 4 Western Texas 1, 9 Snow 0
June 6 - 5 Harcum 2, 9 Snow 1
June 7 - 6 Harcum 1, 4 Western Texas 0
Semifinals
June 9
4 pm – 1 Iowa Western v 10 Iowa Lakes
7 pm – 2 Salt Lake v 5 Harcum
NJCAA Championship
June 10
7 pm – Semifinal winners
