by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
Kansas City Kansas Community College men’s soccer players dug themselves a hole from which they could not escape at Johnson County Wednesday. Scoring twice in the first 27 minutes, the Cavaliers held on for a 2-1 win despite being outshot the second half.
The loss dropped the Blue Devils (1-2) into fourth place in the jumbled Jayhawk Conference standings. Cowley College leads at 3-0-1 followed by Johnson County 2-0-1 and Neosho 2-1.
The Blue Devils, who are 2-3-1 overall, get a chance to get back to the .500 mark when they play host to Allen County Saturday at 7:30 p.m. The game will follow a 5 p.m. women’s contest.
Freshman Jorge Monferrer scored KCKCC’s lone goal on an assist from sophomore Leonardo Notarnicola with 12 minutes left in the second half. Ramon Bravo scored both Johnson County goals on assists from Kyle Reese and Brad Tulley in a six-minute span midway through the first half.
“A very disappointing game,” KCKCC coach Ruben Rodriguez said. “We got off to an extremely slow start in the first half and then had to play catch up in the second half, which unfortunately didn’t happen.”
The Blue Devils had 10 shots on goal including seven in the second half. Meanwhile, JCCC launched 12 shots but only two the second half. KCKCC goalkeeper Bosco Pery was credited with six saves; JCCC’s Pedro Ivaskoski with nine saves.