September 21, 2009

Tiger men’s soccer takes step forward in 2-1 loss to Barton County

Facing a tough Barton County squad on Saturday, the Cowley College men’s soccer team gave the Cougars all they could handle before losing 2-1 Saturday in Arkansas City.

Cowley fell behind 2-0 in the game’s first 20 minutes as Barton County got goals from Ricardo Yeverino and Kevin Ellis. However, the Tigers answered back with a goal from freshman Ivenns Martinez with 18:31 left in the first half. The goal by Martinez was his first of the season and the team’s first in nearly two games.

“We needed that goal, it was a morale boost for the team,” Cowley head coach Roberto Dos Santos said. “Hopefully, this will get Ivenns more comfortable to finish future opportunities.”

The second half was evenly played with both teams’ defense controlling the match. Cowley was unable to tie the game but found many positives in the defeat to Barton County, which was receiving votes in the latest soccer poll.

“We showed we can compete with one of the top teams, unfortunately they came out one goal ahead,” Dos Santos said. “This was a boost we needed to know we can compete with these teams.”

With the loss, Cowley is now 0-4-1 overall and 0-2-1 in the Jayhawk Conference. Barton County improves to 7-2 overall and is now tied with Johnson County for first place in the conference with a record of 3-0.

Cowley will face another tough opponent on Wednesday when they play at No. 5-ranked Garden City at 7 p.m. Garden City is 6-1 overall and 2-0 in the Jayhawk Conference.