This fall Austin Dowling will be providing weekly updates from Great Bend, KS as he follows the Barton County CC men’s soccer team in their pursuit of a NJCAA soccer title.
Why Barton County? The Cougars feature five players who played for the the Springfield Demize this past summer: GK Donovan Dowling, defender Ous Senghore, midfielders James Neighbour and Oscar Narvaez, and forward Kyle Dubay.
In addition to an inside look at the Cougars (Austin’s brother Donovan is the goalkeeper) I’m also looking forward to learning more about Junior College soccer. Take it away Austin!
==============
Barton County CC is the reigning Region 6 conference and Tournament champions, coming within one game of the 8 team national championship field. Coming off of a 19-4 record and a Top 15 finish, expectations are high for this team. The Cougars are comprised of a nice mix of players for Australia, England, Brazil, and the states combining many different styles of play. A talented freshman class, combined with 9 returning sophomore starters, coupled with two late Division 1 transfers (Kyle and Ous) makes Barton an instant national contender.
Barton opened up the year as #13 in the preseason rankings, and started their season with arguably the most difficult schedule in the country. Saturday August 23, the Cougars knocked off Western Nebraska 5-0 as five different Cougars scored, including Oscar Narvaez who notched a goal and an assist in the contest.
This past weekend, Barton started their season in the Missouri Junior College Invitational in St. Louis by beating #14 St. Louis CC – Meramec 2-0. Kyle Dubay scored the late insurance goal for Barton, helping to secure the victory. On Saturday, Barton defeated #5 Jefferson College (MO – 2006 National Champions) 2-1 in a very physical exciting match. The Cougars went up 2-0 before conceding a goal in the 70th minute, only to then hold on for the victory. Sunday, Barton defeated #6 Illinois Central out of Peoria, Illinois by a count of 3-0.
My motivation to start this blog comes from my two years at Johnson County Community College, also a part of the Jayhawk Conference, where we reached the National Junior College Championships in 200x and 200y. My brother Donovan is the goalkeeper for the Cougars, so I am rooting for this team to go far. But I also think this team is the real deal. They knock the ball very well and out possess their opponents forcing them to chase. In all four games they had a clear advantage in shots and kept the pressure on the opposing team’s defense. Barton’s defense led by Senghore at center back, Neighbour at holding midfielder, and Dowling in goal give up limited chances and has the ability to attack out of the back.
Over the course of this fall I will be offering background information on the NJCAA as a whole compared to the NCAA and NAIA, and who are the traditional powers in the past as well as who’s creating buzz this year. Up next for Barton is a pair of games in Garden City Kansas against Lincoln College out of Illinois and Blue River CC out of Independence Missouri. Also, look for the Cougars to rise quick in the national rankings, perhaps into the top five after such an impressive weekend.
Austin Dowling
=================
From the Neosho Daily News some local NJCAA news:
Playing Region XVI foe Jefferson County College, Crowder lost 4-0. The JC Vikings scored two goals in each half to pull out the victory over the Roughriders. Jefferson is now 4-2 overall and won its Region XVI opener. Crowder fell to 0-3-1 and is 0-1-1 in Region XVI play.
Add to Google
Recent Comments