Defending the title is never easy as the Cougars have taken opponent's best shots all season. Monday night was no difference as a net rattler with six minutes remaining in double overtime put the final dagger on the season with a 3-2 loss at Kansas City Kansas Community College in the opening round of the Region VI/Plains District playoffs.
The loss ends the Cougars' 2021 campaign at 8-8-0 while the Blue Devils improve to 5-5-2 advancing to Thursday's 6:30 p.m. semifinal held at Wichita's Stryker Sports Complex against top-seeded and 3rd ranked Cowley Community College.
KCK avenged Barton's late September 1-0 victory on the Blue Devils' home turf, sending a laser from 22-yards out past the Cougars' diving Felipe Ramos to tickle the twine with six minutes left in the second Golden Goal period sending a Blue Devil celebratory rush onto the field.
Barton got the initial scoring chance five-minutes into the contest following Victor Lucca being tripped up inside the box, however the KCK keeper rejected Lucca's penalty kick strike to the near post keeping the sheet clean.
Just four minutes later, the Blue Devils momentum carried over opening up a four goal first half-scoring spree as a KCK attacker dribbled up the sideline winning a 1-verse-1 battle far post against Ramos.
The Cougars' struck back in the 25th minute as Lucca provided the equalizer with his seventh net shaker of the season connecting on a spectacular bicycle kick far post coming off Elijah Williams' flip throw-in for his third assist of the year.
An unlucky break eight minutes later found Barton trailing 2-1 as a KCK shot deflection changed flight sneaking inside the far post.
Approaching the final six minutes of the opening stanza, Barton's Rui Aoki provided the next equalizer with a rise-n-shine header into the back of the net for his second of the year putting away Hidetaka Nakao's free kick posting his third assist of the campaign.
As the pressure picked up in a defensive second half battle, Ramos prevailed largely in net for the Cougars' with 15:00 minutes to play as the freshman stood tall rejecting a Blue Devil penalty kick and forcing the rebound attack to sail high of the net keeping the game knotted at 2-2.
Unable to settle a winner in regulation, Tajay Grant nearly sealed the deal in the second minute of the opening Golden Goal frame but the freshman's header bounced off the crossbar extending the game.