Tiger soccer team knocks off a second straight ranked opponent

The No. 4-ranked Cowley College men's soccer team snapped No. 19-ranked Johnson County's seven-game winning streak with a 3-1 road victory Saturday in Overland Park, KS.

The Tigers, winners of four games in a row, are now 9-1 overall and 4-1 in the Jayhawk Conference Eastern Division. Cowley remains in second place in the conference, just behind Barton Community College (6-1).

Johnson County (9-4) remains tied with Coffeyville for the top spot in the Jayhawk East.

After a scoreless first half, Cowley got the scoring started when Yuki Nakamura scored off an assist from Mate Kenyeres with 31 minutes remaining.

Cowley's lead would grow to 2-0 only 15 minutes later as Filipe Freitas scored off an assist from Sora Funakoshi.

However, the Cavaliers cut the Tigers' lead in half less than two minutes later, as Johan Hernandez scored to put Johnson County on the board.

Cowley regained control of the game and sealed the victory when Caique Trivelato scored with nine minutes left. Manuel Vale assisted on the goal.

Tiger assistant coach Tanner Brock said his team knew they would be challenged but did a good job of handling the adversity of playing a second straight ranked opponent.

"I think we had a lot of players step up and show their maturity in a back-and-forth game," Brock said. "Having captains like Caique, Shunnosuke (Nakajima), Hideto Gondo), and Pedro Arcoverde really makes our jobs easy. They lead by example and show the other guys what it takes to win in this conference." 

Sophomore goalkeeper Rafael Furlani stopped five of the six shots he faced and has not allowed more than one goal in any game this season.

Cowley will remain on the road to face Garden City Wednesday at 6 p.m. The Broncbusters are 5-8 overall and 1-5 in the conference.

"Our upcoming game against Garden City will be very difficult, as is every game in our conference," Brock said. "They are coming off a good win against Kansas City, so they will be ready and confident to play us."