The Barton Community College women’s soccer team season ended where it has for the past three seasons, the Region VI Semifinals at Topeka’s Hummer Park. The Lady Cougars held No. 9 Hutchinson Community College scoreless Thursday for fifty-seven minutes until the Blue Dragons broke through at 32:52 remaining and held on for the 1-0 victory. The loss ended the season for the fifth seeded Lady Cougars at 9-7-3 while the top seeded Blue Dragons improve to 15-1-1 and move on to the Region VI Championship at noon Friday against 14-4-3 Butler Community College.
Barton had numerous opportunities in first half action, three of those coming in consecutive corner kicks. The Blue Dragons also had their fair share with their main threat coming with just seconds remaining on a defensive miscue but goalkeeper Kacee Walsh made one of her numerous saves on the day to keep the game scoreless.
In games where the smallest of missteps can result in a big difference maker, the Blue Dragons finally capitalized on a Barton miscue. Unable to advance the ball upfield, Jen Rogers intercepted the Barton pass and launched from outside the 18′. An alert Walsh deflected the blast but unfortunately for the Lady Cougars, the shot rebounded off the far post back across the box. In a race between two Lady Cougars and Hutchinson’s Renee Gillespie, the 5’3″ Wichita freshman seized the prize to kick in the game winner with 32:52 on the clock.
The attention now turns to recruiting for the Lady Cougars as third year Head Coach Aaron Avila replaces key sophomores and seeks the pieces to fit with his talented group of freshman returning for the 2015 season.
