Barton Men's Soccer survives on penalty kicks over Coffeyville in opening round of Region 6/Plains District Tournament #GoBarton

A rainy Saturday afternoon visit to the Cougar Soccer Complex had all the makings for a nailbiter as the Barton Community College men's soccer team survived and advanced past the opening round of the Region 6/Plains District Tournament on penalty kicks 4-3 over Coffeyville Community College.

Trailing 1-0 since an early 2:29 minute Red Raven goal, Lucas Dos Santos' near post rise and shine header placed to the back post from Maxence Voinier's free kick in the 73rd minute provided the equalizer.

Playing a pair of scoreless 10-minute golden goal periods, the two and half plus hour battle finally came to a close in the fifth round of penalty kicks as Gabriel Bergamin produced the lone goalkeeper save of the shootout sending a Cougar rush onto the pitch.

Next up for the 11-6-3 Cougars is a Wednesday trip to Region 16 winner Jefferson College in a rematch from an earlier season meeting that saw Barton win 3-0 back on August 30th. Kickoff is slated for 2:00 p.m. from Hillsboro, Missouri, with the winner advancing to next Sunday's District Championship. The Red Ravens' 2024 season comes to an end at 4-10-5.

A Cougar foul called just outside the box 2:29 into the contest created the first marker, with Coffeyville's Andres Pereira shaping the 20-yard free kick around the Barton defensive wall just inside the near post past the outstretched hand of Bergamin.

Controlling possession over the final 42 minutes of the opening frame and holding a 6-4 advantage in shots, the Cougars remained on the wrong side of the scoreboard facing their fourth halftime deficit of the season.

Maintaining possession over the final 45-minutes with the Red Ravens turning toward a packed in defensive style, multiple Cougar offensive attacks missed its mark before the relentless pursuit eventually paid off. Benefitting from a Red Raven foul, Voinier's free kick cross into the box found the head of Dos Santos for the equalizing net shaker with 17:43 remaining.

Appearing to be headed for extra time, Barton would withstand a pair of Coffeyville scoring opportunities in the final five minutes including Nicolas Palmeiro's strike inside the 18' drawing wide right with 4:10 remaining.

In the first golden goal period, Barton generated the lone offensive opportunities firing off three shots with Hugo Pacheco's laser from within the box the lone shot attempted on target.

The script flipped in the final overtime period with the Red Ravens producing a trio of shots but Voinier's post guarding thwarting one attack with Bergamin making a critical save in the final seconds helped force the shootout.

Headed to spot kicks with the season on the line, both teams connected on their first two attempts. In the third round Gabriel Henrique gave the Cougars a 3-2 lead with Coffeyville's ensuing attempt banging off the post.

Following made conversions on the fourth attempts, Gonzalo Bassa's potential game sealing shot sailed high setting up Bergamin's game clinching rejection of Coffeyville's Fabrizio Kasperiski's kick igniting the field storming.

Shootout Results
Round 1
Barton: Maxence Voinier (O), Coffeyville: Nicolas Palmeiro (O)
Round 2
Barton: Nils Knecht (O), Coffeyville: Kanata Takahashi (O)
Round 3
Barton: Gabriel Henrique (O), Coffeyville: Lev Kozlow (X)
Round 4
Barton: Diogo Giminez (O), Coffeyville: Andres Pereira (O)
Round 5
Barton: Gonzalo Bassa (X), Coffeyville: Fabrizio Kasperiski (X)