Freshman Zak Hiles' first touch of the game was right on time.

Trailing Barton County 1-0, Hiles headed in a perfectly placed corner kick by Olathe Northwest sophomore Jacob Thomas to rally KCKCC to a 1-1 tie in Great Bend Saturday. The tie evened KCKCC's record at 2-2-1 while the Cougars (4-0-2) remained unbeaten. The Blue Devils are now idle until Sept. 20 when they play at Cowley at 7 p.m.

Hiles, a defender from Raymore-Peculiar, had just entered the contest after an injury to sophomore center back Rory Stenhouse forced him out of the game.

"Zak's first touch would also be his first goal, driving the corner kick to the back of the net with a perfectly placed header," said KCKCC assistant coach Burke Slusher. The game tying goal came at the 59:42 mark.

For most of the first half, the game was played mainly at midfield – except with 35:11 gone when a KCKCC foul 19 yards from the goal set up Nicolas Galanis for a free kick for Barton's go-ahead goal. The Cougars were limited to five shots on goal with sophomore Axel Tonietto saving four.

"We had strong performances from a number of players at a number of positions," said KCKCC head coach Ruben Rodriguez. "Anytime you travel and get a positive result, it is a win. We did that today as a team."