by Alan Hoskins, KCKCC
Kansas City Kansas Community College officially wrapped up a men’s soccer playoff berth with a 2-1 win at Allen County Wednesday – and stayed in position for a possible home playoff spot.
Solidly in third place at 5-3-1, the Blue Devils trail second place Johnson County (5-1-2) by a single point in the NJCAA DI playoff standings. A win in their home finale against Coffeyville Sunday afternoon (4 p.m.) and JCCC losses to Cowley College and Neosho County would vault the Blue Devils into second place in the East and a home playoff berth,
Two goals in a span of three minutes of the first half put the Blue Devils in front and a stingy defense made them hold up at Allen County, blanking the Red Devils until the final seven minutes when Jordan Mase scored an unassisted goal.
Freshman Leonardo Bonelli scored KCKCC’s first goal in the 32nd minute when he took a pass from freshman Elijah Bathily and rifled a shot home from 21 yards out. Bathily then made it 2-0 three minutes later when he scored on a corner kick by freshman Lucas Santos.
KCKCC goalkeeper Bosco Pery turned back five of Allen’s six shots. He got solid defensive support from Santos and sophomores Marcos Cabral, Stylianos Papadimitriou, Ignacio Sarasol and Leonardo Notarnicola.
“Our back line was pretty solid,” KCKCC assistant coach Burke Slusher said. “Freshman Carlos Rodriguez did a good job stepping in at defensive midfield when Sarasol sustained an ankle injury and Notarnicola moved to the back line.”
Offensively, the Blue Devils got off 12 shots on goal against two Allen goalkeepers including three by Alejandro Maillet and two by Samba Gnoakane.