The No. 7 Barton Community College men’s soccer team completed its Labor Day weekend swing with a come-from-behind 4-2 victory Monday morning at Jefferson College in Hillsboro, Missouri.
Barton took the initial lead in first-half action but found itself trailing following a pair of Jefferson goals in the opening six minutes out of intermission before rallying with three scores in the final 16 minutes.
The Cougars remain unbeaten on the season at 6-0 while Jefferson drops to 1-3-1. Barton now has the week to make final preparations for conference play, traveling to Garden City Community College on Saturday for a 2:00 p.m. kickoff.
Coming off a five-point performance the day prior in Barton’s 4-2 victory at No. 15 Lewis & Clark, Masaki Tsuji again accounted for five points Monday, having a hand in each goal of the Cougars’ three-score second-half rally.
Shun Imai gave Barton the initial lead 30 minutes into the contest, turning defense into the freshman’s third goal of the year by stealing an errant touch before firing far post to rattle the net.
A pair of quick Viking tallies in the opening six minutes of second-half action put the Cougars on their heels. The first came via a penalty kick before Jefferson struck again less than three minutes later, capitalizing on a Barton turnover with a quick transition goal to grab a 2-1 advantage.
The teams played even for the next 23 minutes before Jefferson returned the penalty-kick favor, with Tsuji converting the opportunity for the equalizer with 16:10 remaining.
Nine minutes later, Tsuji helped create the game-winner, finding Yuto Saeki whose soft touch to the wing set up Aidan Dunne to send in his second goal of the season for a 3-2 Barton advantage.
The Cougars again displayed nifty, unselfish passing for the final tally. Imai collected his first collegiate assist by threading a perfect ball to a cutting Tsuji, who blasted his sixth goal of the season to the upper shelf with 3:52 remaining to put the finishing touches on the comeback.
Pedro Lisboa again played fortress between the pipes, rejecting five Jefferson shots. The sophomore surrendered only the penalty kick before being left in no-man’s land on Barton’s turnover leading to the Vikings’ quick transition goal.
BARTON SCORING SUMMARY
29:58: Shun Imai (3)
73:50: Masaki Tsuji (5)
82:35: Aidan Dunne (2); Assists: Yuto Saeki (1) and Masaki Tsuji (2)
86:08: Masaki Tsuji (6); Assist: Shun Imai (1)
