Five Tigers score in soccer team’s win at Garden City

Demonstrating the depth of its squad, the No. 4-ranked Cowley College men's soccer team had five players score in the Tigers' 5-1 win at Garden City on Wednesday.

"We showed the importance of having a deep roster. Everyone contributed at the right time," Cowley head coach Ruy Vaz said.

Cowley is now 10-1 overall and 5-1 in the Jayhawk Conference Western Division, while Garden City falls to 5-9 overall and 1-6 in the conference.

With Wednesday's game scoreless for the first 30 minutes, Cowley would score three goals in a 10-minute span to go into halftime with a commanding 3-0 lead.

The Tigers got first-half goals from Pedro Arcoverde, Yuki Sekiguchi, and Caique Trivelato. Assists came from Sora Funakoshi, Mate Kenyeres, and Hideto Gondo.

Garden City would pull within 3-1 on a goal by Ricardo Checka six minutes into the second half.

The score would remain that way until Cowley got goals from Flynn Faulkner and Santiago Fernandez in a two-minute span as they went on to the 5-1 victory. Anthony Pereira assisted on the final goal.

The goals by Sekiguchi, Faulkner, and Fernandez were their first of the season.

"I am so happy for them," Vaz said. "They have a great work ethic, are relentless, and never give up."

Cowley goalkeeper Rafael Furlani stopped three of the four shots he faced and has yet to give up more than one goal in any game this season.

"Rafael is a top goalkeeper, and we have two more goalkeepers behind him that we have confidence in as well," Vaz said. "We also feel very safe with our back line."

Cowley, winners of five games in a row, will now attempt to avenge its lone loss of the season when they host eighth-ranked Barton County Wednesday at 7 p.m. The Tigers lost at Barton County by a score of 1-0 back on September 14.

"It is nice to have a week to rest and prepare for the challenge of playing Barton," Vaz said. "We need to channel our energy and be ready to play a very tough rival."

Cowley is one game behind Barton (12-2) in the conference standings with four games remaining.