The Barton Community College women's soccer team left Iowa still searching for its first victory of the year as the Cougars were dealt a pair of losses in Council Bluffs dropping to 0-3 on the season.
Barton lost the battle of Cougars on Saturday in falling 2-0 to Western Nebraska Community College held on the neutral pitch. Following a scoreless first half, WNCC outplayed Barton in the second half putting the first goal in net fifteen minutes into the final frame before tacking on an insurance goal with twenty minutes remaining.
The host Reivers of Iowa Western Community College took a season opening loss to WNCC on Friday but played like the 3rd ranked team in the country throughout Sunday's morning affair in sailing to a 7-1 victory.
A rebounded shot off of Itzel Diaz' save on a breakaway put IWCC up for good just one minute into the action with a back side header on a corner kick two minutes later doubling up the lead.
Kurumi Arakawa cut the deficit in half six minutes later finding the Reiver keeper out of the box and placing a long shot over the head for the freshman's second goal of the year.
A foul just inside the paint line at the top of the eighteen and subsequent penalty kick put the IWCC lead back to two with twenty-six minutes remaining as the lead would grow to three on another net rattler three minutes before halftime.
The Cougars held IWCC out of net in second half play until eleven minutes left when Barton wore down and the Reivers posted three goals in the next seven minutes on reserve keeper Aida Saenz.
Unofficial stat counts from the weekend had Barton outshooting WNCC 15-12 Saturday but the Cougars had much more trouble getting a host of good shots Sunday against the Reivers in getting doubled up by an unofficial 17-8 tally.
The Cougars might have to wait in getting back on the competitive pitch as Friday's slated home game against the junior varsity from Southwestern College has been cancelled due to a roster shortage for the Moundbuilders. If Barton can't find a game to fill the void, the Cougars' next action won't come until Wednesday, September 4, in a 4:30 p.m. kick-off at Garden City Community College to open up conference play.