by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
Kansas City Kansas Community College will need help to return to the top of the Jayhawk Conference women’s soccer standings.
A 5-2 loss at first place Cowley College (7-1) Saturday dropped the 16th ranked Blue Devils (6-3) two losses back in the standings with three games to go. KCKCC dealt Cowley its only conference loss 2-1 in the first meeting of the two teams.
KCKCC’s two remaining home games are against teams right on the Blue Devils’ heels, Johnson County (5-3) Friday at 5 p.m. and Coffeyville (5-3) Sunday, Oct. 20. The Lady Blue Devils lone road game is at Allen County (0-9) Oct. 16.
Meanwhile, Cowley has a makeup game with No. 13 ranked Butler County (4-3-1) and regularly scheduled games at JCCC and Coffeyville and a home contest with Neosho.
Two early Cowley goals put the Blue Devils (9-2-1) in a hole from which they could not escape.
Kayley Pedersen, a freshman midfielder from Shawnee Mission West, got KCKCC back in contention when she bent in a corner kick late in the half but three second half Tiger goals were too much to overcome.
Freshman forward Madison Broeker got KCKCC’s second goal when she scored off a Pedersen corner kick.
“We didn’t contain their top forward nor put together a full 90 minutes,” KCKCC assistant coach Sara Matthews said. “We look like we had tired bus legs in giving up two goals in the first 20 minutes. We gained a little momentum going into the half of Pedersen’s corner kick but missed too many chances and allow Cowley took much time and space. They’re too good to give them that.
“Our fate is in our hands,” she said. “We have to learn from these games and do our job in our remaining three games. We score goals, in fact, we’ve scored multiple goals in every game. But we have to put together 90 minutes of team defense. If we do, we are a forced to be reckoned with.”
Cowley, which is 9-2 overall, leads the Jayhawk at 7-1 followed by KCKCC, 6-3; JCCC and Coffeyville, both 5-3; Butler, 4-3-1; Neosho, 1-6-1; and Allen, 0-9.