Short-handed 8th ranked Barton women's soccer bid for repeat District crown derailed 2-1 #GoBarton

Playing a man down in second half action Sunday in Overland Park, the 8th ranked Barton Community College women's soccer team's defense of its crown came up short 2-1 to 17th ranked Cowley College in the Region VI/Plains District Semifinal held at the JCCC Soccer Field.

The Cougars and Tigers battled to a 1-all draw through first half action, a late red card penalty late in the period sending Barton to the final forty-five with the self-infused disadvantage. Scoreless through the twenty-five minutes, the Tigers netted a backside header off a 40-yard free kick for the eventual game winner for the program's first ever District title.

Now awaiting a possible at-large bid for the national tournament, Barton's 13-game unbeaten streak ends dropping the Cougars to 14-2-3 while Cowley advances to next week's NJCAA Division I Tournament in Wichita with a 12-3-4 record.

A Barton defensive miscue resulted in Cowley striking first twenty minutes into the action as Cougar goalkeeper Mio Tanaka and the backline miscommunicated resulting in the Tigers easily burying the empty netter.

Oddly enough the Barton defense provided the equalizer seven minutes later as sophomore defenseman Hinata Kojima' rattled the upper-90 twine from 40-yards out tying it up with 17:48 left for her first goal of the year.

Barton Scoring
27:12 Hinata Kojima (1)

Series Notes
- Teams played to 1-1 draws in both meetings this season
- First meeting in post-season and on a neutral field
- Barton leads the overall series 11-3-3

Record Book Watch
Nina Norshie:
- 22 single season goals – Moved into 9th – 1 behind Elaine Fontes (2005) – *Scored program 2nd best last season (43)
- 65 career goals – 2nd program all-time – 9 behind Shala Giardini's 74 (2009-2010)
- 142 career points – 2nd program all-time – 25 behind Shala Giardini's most all-time 167 (2009-2010)

Aya Saiki:
- 28 career goals – Tied 10th program all-time with Danielle Saucedo (2010) – 2 behind Flavia Bernardes (2008-2009)
- 14 career assists – 12th program all-time – 1 behind Mariana Poveda (2012-2013)
- 70 career points – 11th program all-time – passed Laura Maria's 64 (2018) – 6 behind Elaine Fontes (2005-2006)

Rin Sato:
- 21 career assists – 6th program all-time – 1 behind Larissa Fagundes (2017-2018) and Laura Maria (2018)