The No. 6 Barton Community College men's soccer team survived a wild Wednesday night shootout, using a Shun Imai goal with 50 seconds remaining to escape Redskin Field with a thrilling 5-4 victory over Seward County Community College.
Barton twice built two-goal advantages in the second half before Seward County battled back to level the contest at 4-all with 5:09 remaining. With time winding down, Imai provided the final answer, finishing a Kotaro Kimura setup with 50 seconds remaining to help the Cougars escape the Saints' upset bid.
Winners of three straight, Barton improves to 3-1-0 in conference play and 9-1-0 overall, while Seward County falls to 0-4-0 in league action and 5-5-0 on the season. Next up for the Cougars is Sunday's 2:00 p.m. makeup showdown against receiving-votes Iowa Western Community College as former Barton men's soccer head coach Mike Brown returns to the Cougar Soccer Complex.
The Cougars struck first just 6:52 into the contest as Samuele Mailer connected with Masaki Tsuji for the sophomore's then eighth-goal of the season. The advantage lasted less than four minutes before the Saints answered at the 10:49 mark, with Sean Murphy finishing a Joao Dal Farra setup to level the contest at 1-all.
Barton came out of the halftime break with the opening punch, as Imai set up Tsuji just 2:05 into the second half for his second goal of the night and team-leading ninth of the season. Luan Sakuramoto stretched the margin to 3-1 in the 58th minute heading home Rafael Calmon's back-post corner kick before Seward County answered just 1:26 later on Archie Young's tally, trimming the Cougar advantage back to one, 3-2.
Calmon restored Barton's two-goal cushion in the 68th minute, converting a 1v1 opportunity for his sixth goal of the season to push the lead to 4-2. The Saints refused to go away, capitalizing on a pair of Cougar defensive breakdowns to pull within one at the 73:51 mark before Dal Farra delivered the equalizer with 5:09 remaining, leveling the contest at 4-all.
With the contest deadlocked into the final minute, Barton found one final answer. Kimura slipped a thru ball across the box to Imai on the backside, with the freshman burying the opportunity with 50 seconds remaining to deliver the dramatic 5-4 game-winner.
By the NumbersBarton held a 13-7 advantage in total shots, placing 10 attempts on frame compared to Seward County's five, while generating nine corner kicks to the Saints' one. Tsuji paced the Cougar attack with four shots, putting three on frame behind his two-goal performance, while Calmon and Imai each contributed a goal and assist.
BARTON SCORING SUMMARY
6:52: Masaki Tsuji (8); Assist: Samuele Mailer (2)
47:05: Masaki Tsuji (9); Assist: Shun Imai (2)
57:25: Luan Sakuramoto (1); Assist: Rafael Calmon (3)
67:19: Rafael Calmon (6)
89:10: Shun Imai (6); Assist: Kotaro Kimura (3)