The No. 4 Barton Community College men’s soccer team opened postseason play Sunday evening, overcoming an early deficit to notch a 2-1 comeback victory over Coffeyville Community College in the opening round of the Plains District/Region 6 Tournament at the Fort Hays State University Soccer Stadium.
Advancing to next week’s semifinal round, the Cougars extend their winning streak to nine straight, improving to 15-3-2 on the year, while the Red Ravens conclude their season at 6-5-6. Barton will have a few days off before hosting Crowder College, Thursday with the date and location to be announced later Monday.
Coffeyville put the pressure on the Cougars early, striking first in the seventh minute as Diego Mejia netted his first goal of the season, cleaning up Eilo Junior’s initial denied shot attempt.
After several missed scoring chances, Barton finally broke through near the midway point of the half as Lucas Meibom drew the equalizer in the 17th minute, unleashing a 45-yard strike into a 10-mph south breeze that caught Red Raven keeper Tsubasa Nakamura off his line, with the high one-hopper sailing over his head and into the net for Meibom’s second marker of the year.
Keeping the pressure on with the wind at their backs, the Cougars struck for the eventual game-winner just 22 minutes later with Gabriel Henrique delivering a pinpoint 25-yard cross to the back post, connecting with an unmarked Rafael Calmon for an easy tap in for his ninth goal of the season and a 2-1 Barton advantage.
Defending into the wind in the second half, the Cougars packed in for much of the final 45-minutes generating just one shot and weathering 10 Coffeyville shot attempts to pressure the lead.
Goalkeeper Pedro Lisboa turned away five shots to secure the victory, anchoring a Barton defense that limited the Red Ravens to just three second-half attempts on frame.
BARTON SCORING SUMMARY
16:48: Lucas Meibom (2)
39:22: Rafael Calmon (9); Assist: Gabriel Henrique (2)
