STERLING — Friday marked the first men’s soccer game for Aaron Avila as Barton Community College’s head soccer coach.
It was just a preseason game, but the 1-0 victory over Sterling College gives Avila a lot to look forward to.
“We had a lot of good scoring opportunities,” Avila said. “We just didn’t capitalize on all of them.”
One of the Cougars’ few returning players, Chris Hogg, was able to break the scoreless tie.
Hogg blasted in a free kick from about 25 yards out to give Barton the go-ahead goal.
“He hit it well,” Avila said. “I think we played well. The guys did what we worked on in practice. We kept them away from our goals pretty well.
“We obviously would like to capitalize on more of our opportunities, but it was a good win.”

Women’s team open
preseason with loss
McPHERSON — The Barton Community College women’s soccer team opened the preseason with a 2-0 loss against McPherson on Saturday.
“It was a good game,” Avila said. “It was really hot. We played at 1 p.m. We were facing fatigue and we had a couple injuries, but it was a good first game for a lot of our freshmen.”
Barton gave up both goals in the final 30 minutes of the game.
Avila, who said he was looking forward to seeing his team compete having so many newcomers, saw things both positive and negative.
“I saw some things I liked and I saw some things that I didn’t like,” Avila said. “We weren’t very composed under pressure, which you’re going to get with a lot of freshmen. Hopefully, we can get that under control as the season moves on.”