The Barton Community College men's soccer team wasted little time lighting up the scoreboard in Friday's neutral-site season opener, striking twice in the first four minutes en route to an 8-0 victory over Trinidad State College at Dodge City's Memorial Stadium.
Receiving votes in the NJCAA Division I preseason poll, the victory marked the Cougars' 11th straight season-opening win, while the Trojans dropped to 0-1 on the young campaign. Barton will have a quick turnaround Sunday, traveling south on Highway 281 to face Pratt Community College in a 1:00 p.m. kickoff at the Bill Keller Family Sports Complex.
Freshman forward Masaki Tsuji highlighted a night of collegiate first by pacing the Cougar attack with two goals and an assist. He set up the season's opening goal in the 3rd minute before finding the back of the net himself just 59 seconds later. Tsuji added his second goal early in the second half to spark a four-goal barrage.
Barton led 4-0 at halftime with goals coming in steady succession. Samuele Mailer opened the scoring just 2:22 in off assists from Tsuji and Rafael Calmon, followed less than a minute later by Tsuji's first strike. Rafael Soares extended the margin in the 21st minute before Angel Sainz closed the half with a 26th-minute finish assisted by Briac Mathez and Rafael Silva.
The Cougars' depth carried into the second half with four more goal scorers. After Tsuji's second tally, Dahman Zucchini scored in the 51st minute off helpers from Lucas Meibomand Etienne Grandjean. Less than two minutes later, Diogo Giminez scored his seventh career goal converting a penalty kick before Tomas Gaspar capped the scoring in the 54th minute off Christopher Goerler's backline setup pass.
Barton controlled the stat sheet with a 14-6 shot advantage, including a 9-3 margin on target. Keagan Lewis made three saves in his Cougar debut, while Gabriel Bergaminearned the victory with a clean opening 45-minutes as the pair combined for the shutout.
SCORING SUMMARY
2:22: Samuele Mailer (1); Assists: Rafael Calmon (1) & Masaki Tsuji (1)3:21: Masaki Tsuji (1)20:43: Rafael Soares (1)25:45: Angel Sainz (1); Assists: Briac Mathez (1) & Rafael Silva (1)48:06: Masaki Tsuji (2)50:09: Dahman Zucchini (1); Assists: Lucas Meibom (1) & Etienne Grandjean (1)51:31: Diogo Giminez (1)53:01: Tomas Gaspar (1); Assist: Christopher Goerler (1)