Soccer Game Report
Hesston vs. Barton County, Oct. 7, Hesston, Kan.

1st half:  1 BC Austin Herron (unassisted) 18:00

2nd half:  2 BC Paul Merchant (unassisted) 57/23; 3 BC Paul Merchant (unassisted) 75:31

Shots:  HC 12 (3 SOG); BC 23 (9 SOG)

Saves:  HC 6 (James Ward); BC 3 (Marty Morris)

Yellow Cards:  HC Brandon Davis, Anthony Warfel

Red Cards:  none

Coach's Summary: 
(The following article was taken directly from an article written in the Newton Kansan newspaper by reporter Jeremy Jaso.)

Hesston - the Hesston College soccer team hosted Barton County Community College Thursday in a rematch from a game earlier in the season in which the Larks fell to BCCC on the road 5-2. The larks played solid, fundamental soccer, but still fell to Barton County 3-0.
      Barton County came out aggressive and took control of the game early. Barton's Shawn Drewry took a shot very early in the game that was snatched up by Hesston goalkeeper James Ward.
      "I knew they were going to come out hard," Hesston coach Arnie sharp said. "Barton is a very well coached team. I knew that they would come out ready to play. They beat us earlier in the season 5-2 and scored three goals in about 15 minutes, so we wanted to make sure that we came out strong defensively first and not give up anything silly, and we did that for the most part."
      Hesston got its first shot on goal when midfielder Brandon Davis took a rip on goal that was saved by Barton's keeper, followed by another huge Steve Eriksen shot 40 yards out that flew past the Barton's upper-right 90.
      But Barton regained control following Hesston's quick attack and soon scored when Austin Herron received a long ball and beat the keeper in 18:00.
      The Larks had a scoring opportunity minutes later when Brett Brand took a ball on a break away, but Brand was called offside and the effort ended.
      Hesston got another chance two minutes later, though. Davis put a shot on goal that bounced off the inside of the left goal post and back into a crowd of players, drawing out the keeper. Hesston's Felipe Tafur came up with the ball and put a shot on an open net that flew over the goal.
      By this point in the first half, Hesston appeared to have balanced the game out. Barton's dominance over Hesston's defending half of the field had relaxed, and the Larks were beginning to make runs on the net. It seemed inevitable Hesston would even up the score before half.
      That didn't come and Barton County took a 1-0 lead into the half-time break.
In the second half, Hesston came out the aggressor as Barton had in the first half. In the first 40 seconds, Hesston's Tafur received a cross in front of the goal that was tapped over the net.
      But as had happened earlier, Barton County regained control of the game and managed a few shots on goal before scoring again in 57:23 when Herron got his second goal of the game by beating a handful of Larks. Hesston now trailed 2-0.
      Barton would continue to control the game through the next 25 minutes as every Hesston run on goal continued to come up short. Barton County also seemed unstoppable down the right wing, managing breakaway after breakaway down the right side.
      "They've got some very fast, very technically gifted players and we wanted to keep them in front of us and not let any of the guys beat us one-on-one," Sharp said. I thought if we could've finished better, it would've been a completely different game."
      But Hesston couldn't finish and the deficit got a little heavier in 75:31 when Barton County picked up goal number three. Sophomore Paul Merchant, a defender, stepped up for a 40-yard direct kick and put a roller into the back left corner of the net for a 3-0 BCCC lead.
      Down three goals with just 15 minutes to play, Hesston stood little chance at staging a comeback. The Larks put together a few scoring attempts including a pair of back-to-back headers from Tafur and Eric Bixler that Barton's keeper saved, but couldn't score and ended up losing to Barton County 3-0.
      The Larks host Barclay College 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
     "I think when we played Barclay at their place, we stared out sluggish," Coach Sharp said. "So we want to play strong from the start and make sure the guys are healthy and keep their heads up - just make sure we get back on the right track."