Liberal, Kansas – After a long six game road stint away from their loving fans, the Seward County Lady Saints soccer team returned home to Redskin Field to face another nationally ranked opponent in #12 Cowley who scored early to move ahead of the Lady Saints and never looked back despite a pair of second half goals from Natoya Atkinson as the Tigers took down SCCC 5-3.
Five minutes into the first half the first goal was scored as Cowley cashed in to take a 1-0 lead and twenty minutes later, they connected on a corner kick to make it a 2-0 lead over the Lady Saints. Seward County responded before the halftime break to get on the scoreboard as Dayra Dinarte made her way down field going shoulder to shoulder with the Tigers defenders who fouled Dinarte inside the box to give her a chance at a penalty kick. One on one the Cowley goalkeeper was no match for Dinarte’s rocket of a shot that connected in the back of the goal to make the score 2-1. It did not take long for the Tigers to match Seward County’s goal with another one of their own as they sunk in goal number three for a 3-1 lead before the break.
Cowley opened the second half with another pair of goals to grow the Lady Saints deficit to four with 28:00 minutes left on the clock and a miracle needed to get back within reach. Luckily for Seward County the offensive drive they needed came right when they needed it most as they stormed ahead down field with Atkinson leading the charge as she cocked back and sailed in a shot that landed inside the upper right corner of the crossbar to score her first goal of the afternoon and make it a 5-2 score. With momentum on their side the Lady Saints found a way to silence the Tigers with goalkeeper Ashley Acevedo recording multiple high flying saves at the goal to keep the score difference at three. With Acevedo being the ace SCCC needed on defense, the Lady Saints had no problem pushing down field for one more run as Meredith Rosas found Atkinson on the run who pushed past the Cowley defense to go mano a mano with the Tigers’ goalie who Atkinson made quick work of as she sank in her second goal of the game to make it a 5-3 score before the final horn sounded.
Seward County now falls to 2-9-3 overall on the 2024 season while dropping to 1-8-2 in Jayhawk Conference action. The Lady Saints will return to action this upcoming Wednesday when they face the Garden City Broncbusters on Redskin Field at 6:00 PM.