The Barton Community College men's soccer team landed nine players on the recently released Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference and Region VI selection teams. The nine helped lead the Cougars to a 13-2-1 record going 10-2 in region play in concluding Head Coach Mike Brown's first year at the helm ranked No. 14 in the NSCAA and No. 20 in the NJCAA final polls.Headlining the selections were two sophomores earning both first team All-Conference and All-Region VI honors.
Lucas Alves, who repeats his first team honors from his freshman season, finished second on the team in both goals scored (8) and assists (7) to lead the Cougars with twenty-three points in sixteen games. Also repeating all-conference honors from his inaugural collegiate season, fellow midfielder Kota Endo was the backbone for the Cougars holding and solidifying the midfield.
Also a key component to the midfield was sophomore Vinicius Monteiro being named second team all-conference. Leading the Cougars with eleven assists, Monteiro also scored twice in the season including punching in the first goal before dishing two assists in 3-1 road victory at Dodge City. Joining Monteiro on the second team was goalkeeper Juan Parente, who along with last year's honorable mention selection Bruce Turner, gave the Cougars the benefit of two quality keepers leading the nation's No. 7 ranked defense.
Three of the five freshman earning honors helped secure that defensive line in front of Parente and Turner. Landing on the second team were Julio Vicente, Boris Nana Tonzi, and Benjamin Zamora as the Cougars will be stout defensively looking ahead to the 2017 season.
Leading the team with nine net shakers and one point behind Alves' team leading points, forward Mario Ramirez was the lone freshman Cougar named to both the conference and region second team. Joining him on the front line was Jose Escobedo who scored four goals on the season with three assists giving Barton a bright outlook to the 2017 on both ends of the field.