Boaventura’s hat trick leads Cowley to 4-0 road win

Coming off a two-goal effort his last time out, Cowley College freshman Rafael Boaventura topped that by scoring three goals in the No. 19-ranked Tigers' 4-0 win at Kansas City Kansas Community College on Saturday.

Boaventura netted a pair of first half goals and completed the hat-trick by scoring eight minutes into the second half.

"Rafael is always at the right place at the right time, which is difficult to achieve," Cowley head coach Ruy Vaz said. "We set the tone from the beginning and did a good job of following our game plan."

Gabriel Verona capped the scoring for the Tigers by scoring his third goal of the season. Sophomore midfielder Masaya Sekiguchi served as the play maker for the Tigers, assisting on three of Cowley's four goals.

"Masaya can be put in any position and will do well," Vaz said. "He provides us with tremendous leadership and was huge for us."

Cowley goalkeeper Rafael Furlani stopped all three shots he faced to preserve the Tigers' third shutout of the season, while freshman defender Shunnosuke Nakajima played well and spurred Cowley's defense.

"He does everything we ask him to do and has a great work ethic," Vaz said.

Cowley is now 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division. The loss drops Kansas City's record to 0-1-1.

The Tigers will face Dodge City Wednesday at 3 p.m. at the Stryker Sports Complex in Wichita, KS. Dodge City is 1-1 on the season. The teams went into double overtime the last time they met, with Cowley winning 4-3 in the region playoffs.

"It will have a playoff feel playing the game at Stryker," Vaz said. "Dodge is very well coached. Our guys are excited to play."