by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
Kansas City Kansas Community College peppered the Coffeyville goal with 17 shots Wednesday night in a 3-1 Jayhawk Conference win on the road.
The win kept the Blue Devils in the thick of the Jayhawk race.
Tied with Neosho County for third place at 3-2, they trail Johnson County (4-0-1) and Cowley College (3-1-1) heading into the second round of conference play.
Home Sunday against St. Louis Community College in a noon kickoff, the Blue Devils resume conference play next Wednesday against Cowley in a battle for third.
Sophomore Marcos Cabral gave KCKCC a 1-0 first half lead by converting a penalty kick with 37 minutes gone in the opening period.
Coffeyville got even with an unassisted goal five minutes into the second half before KCKCC won the sprint to the finish.
Freshman Lucas Santo took a pass from another frosh, Elijah Bathily, and outraced a defender for the go-ahead goal with 32 minutes left in the second half and freshman forward Samba Gnokane clinched the win with an unassisted goal at the 72-minute mark.
“Different players scored for us which is good,” KCKCC head coach Ruben Rodriguez said. “Our first two goals were scored by defenders. We played together and worked cohesively. We want to continue this good run but still have more work to do.”
Three of the Blue Devils final five conference games will be played at home. Coffeyville managed 10 shots against goalkeeper Bosco Pery, who had three saves on four shots on goal.