8th ranked Barton women's soccer drops opening game of pool play at the National Tournament #GoBarton
8th ranked Barton women's soccer drops opening game of pool play at the National Tournament
A trio of what could have been opportunities left the 8th ranked Barton Community College women's soccer team on the wrong side of the scoreboard Sunday night in the opening day of the NJCAA National Tournament falling 1-0 to 6th ranked and fourth seeded Eastern Florida State College from Wichita's Stryker Sports Complex.
Dropping to 14-3-3 on the year and 0-1-0 in Pool D, the ninth-seeded Cougars now face a must win situation Monday evening at 5:30 p.m. against 3rd ranked and fifth seeded Tyler Community College. The victory moves Eastern Florida State College to 12-3-1 on the year and 1-0-0 in group play with the Titans controlling their own destiny heading into their Tuesday 5:30 p.m. contest against the Apachies.
Switching to a more defensive approach, the story of the night came 2:27 into the contest as the first of three prime scoring chances went wayside for the Cougars with Hinata Kojima's free kick from 40-yards out being denied at the last second by Titan keeper Lauren Pastor.
Unable to convert on Ivana Faria's setup 1-v-1 situation with 64:27 remaining, a free kick awarded 1:17 ensuing to the Titans generated the game-winner on Ana Alvarez Garcia's taken kick sent into the box finding the head of Nancy Almanza for a far post placement.
Outshot 16-10 and 9-5 on frame, Barton's final scoring chance for the equalizer drew empty on Rin Sato's free kick awarded just outside the box with 14-seconds remaining.
Game Notes:
- Barton was shutout for just the second time this season.
- First time since the 2020-21 season that Barton has dropped back-to-back contests.
- Barton is 1-2 overall at the National Tournament.