| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hesston | 1 |
1 |
2 |
| Barton | 3 |
2 |
5 |
1st half:
1 BC Jared Garver (unassisted) 1:41, 2 BC Brent Neal (unassisted) 9:22,
3 BC Austin Herron (assist Paul Merchant) 20:02, 1 HC Jared Widmer (assist
Eric Bixler) 24:38
2nd half: 4 BC Desmond Yankey (Eugene Nusser) 55:20,
2 HC Aaron Martin (unassisted) 58:16, 5 BC Eugene Nusser (Trey Davis)
88:32
Shots: HC 15 (7 SOG), BC 37 (15 SOG)
Saves: HC 10 (James Ward), BC 5 (Marty Morris)
Corner Kicks: HC 2, BC 4
Yellow Cards: HC Philip Kaufman, Brandon Davis
BC Jamar Lane Red Cards - None
Coach's Summary: A short ride to Great Bend, KS would make for a long afternoon for the Larks from Hesston College as they took on the new perennial power - Barton County Community College. "Barton has only had a soccer program for four years but in that short time their coach has turned that program quickly into one of the top teams in our region. Two years ago they won the regional tournament and went on to the Junior College National Tournament. Last year they did not win our region but they were clearly the top team entering post season before they bowed out to KCKCC."
Barton came out with a furry and made the Larks look flat-footed by getting the first goal in the first 2 minutes. Two more goals by the 21st minute made this look like Hesston just could not keep up. But to the Larks credit they did not give up and even started to take some control of the game. Twenty-five minutes into the contest HC got not only their first goal of the game but also their first goal ever against Barton County. And a beautiful goal it was. Eric Bixler found some space down the left side and sent a low ball screaming through the box for Jared Widmer to run onto with the diving header. The ball rippled the back of the net and gave the Larks new life.
"The way the game was going I was beginning to worry the our players might fold but instead they responded by getting a sweet goal. It was good to see that even though things were not going well we were able to keep working hard and eventually get something to celebrate. Barton was just so fast at every position. They made some nice runs into the box. Austin Herron really made things happen for them early. But none of their goals were as nice as ours."
Hesston went into half time down 3 - 1 but determined to play better. The second half the Larks started strong and were doing well to string together passes. Many times the Larks were able to work the ball to the final third but were turned away each time. Barton struck again with some tough play by Eugene Nusser to get the ball slotted nicely from deep in the area to the center of the box for an easy goal by Desmond Yankey.
Now down 4 - 1 Hesston looked for new ways to score. And they found it when Aaron Martin took a poorly cleared ball by BC from a corner kick and rocketed a ball from 25 yards away into the back of the net. "That was such a fantastic goal. Aaron hit it the first time and the ball never got above chest high and did not fall until it first stretched the netting. That was big time. We really needed that. We really needed both goals."
Once again down only 2 goals Hesston looked for a way to shorten the lead to one. But were unable to get any really good scoring opportunities. Barton put the final exclamation point on the contest with a fifth goal in the final couple of minutes.
"It was a tough game. You never want to give up a goal and especially not 5 but we did do some nice things including and beyond the goals. Defensively Barton exposed some of our weaker points. We now know what we need to work on. But we also proved that we could keep them in check if we play together and we play aggressive. We also proved that we could score on some of our tougher opponents. We have improved each game and sometimes like today improved within a game. We getting better each time and that is what is so exciting to see. If I thought this was as good as we could play I might be pretty discouraged but I know that we can play so much better."
The Larks schedule does not get any easier when they take on Kansas City Kansas Community College in Kansas City on Saturday at 1 p.m. "KCKCC will be tough but so are all the teams in our region. There are not any easy games in our region like some schools have but that is what makes it such a great challenge"