Tigers clinch at least a share of second straight conference title
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Garden City Community College (7-5-1, 2-5-1) | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
Cowley County Community College (11-0-0, 7-0-0) | 0 | 2 | 2 |
The No. 4-ranked Cowley College men's soccer team remained unbeaten and clinched at least a share of its second straight conference title with a 2-0 win over Garden City Wednesday at the Tigers new soccer field in Arkansas City.
Playing on the recently installed turf, the Tigers dominated the game from the start. However, Cowley was unable to find the back of the net in the first half of play as the teams went into halftime locked in a scoreless tie.
Cowley continued to keep the pressure on in the second half and finally broke through when Caique Trivelato headed in a corner kick from Leonardo Palmieri five minutes into the second half. The goal was Trivelato's team-leading 12th of the season.
The game would remain 1-0, despite the Tigers peppering the opponents' goal, until Rafael Boaventura scored off an assist from Yuzuki Motohashi with just over seven minutes remaining. The goal was Boaventura's sixth of the season.
Cowley head coach Ruy Vaz was thrilled to be playing on the new field.
"It is like a dream come true. We are very grateful to have this kind of field," Vaz said.
The Tigers posted a clean sheet in the victory as they out-shot Garden City 18-0.
"We are happy with the clean sheet," Vaz said. "Our back line did a good job of making sure Garden City didn't have the ball. Still, it is not normal to have 18 shots and only two goals. So, we need to work on finishing and being more clinical in the last third of the field."
Cowley (11-0) is now 7-0 in the Jayhawk Conference Western Division, while second place Barton Community College is 4-3. One more win in Cowley's final three conference games and the Tigers will clinch the conference title outright.
"We are only worrying about getting better every day," Vaz said.
Cowley will remain home to face Coffeyville Saturday at 4 p.m. in a clash of division leaders. The Red Ravens (11-0-1) clinched the Jayhawk East with its 2-1 overtime win at Johnson County on Wednesday.
"These are the kind of games we live for," Vaz said. "We will need to bring the intensity."
