Saints Defeat Barton For 1st Time in Program History Behind Astrath’s 2 Goals

LIBERAL, Kan. – For the first time in the Seward County women's soccer program's three-year history, the Saints defeated the Barton Cougars.

Seward (2-0-0, 1-0-0) defeated the Cougars (1-2-0, 0-1-0), 3-2, in the Saints first game in 19 days. The win also marked the first win in a conference opener in program history for Seward.

The first 15 minutes saw Seward strike twice. Melanni Matango netted her first goal of the season off an assist from Ericka Castillo and Julia Astrath scored her first of two goals as she took advantage of a Cougar misplay and pushed the ball past Barton's goalie to make it 2-0 just 13 minutes in.

Barton did not go away quietly, getting on the board in the 34th minute on a goal from Ayaka Nagano, her third of the season. Seward went to halftime with a 2-1 lead. 20 minutes into the second half, Barton tied the game on a goal from Sara Aguirre. The Saints continued to attack, not looking for a draw. Astrath got a ball from Giuliana Granada and had green grass in front of her. She placed a ball in the right corner over the outstretched Cougar goalies arms in the 86th minute to put Seward back ahead at 3-2. It marked Astrath's third goal of the season.

Check out the game winning goal from freshman Julia Astrath with 3:30 remaining in the second half!

It was her second goal of the game and sent the Saints to the win over Barton⚽️#GoodToBeGreen pic.twitter.com/sA9uHJdU5J

— Seward County Saints (@SewardSaints) September 11, 2025

Seward was outshot 13-8 and saw Barton tally 10 corner kicks to the Saints two. The Saints used two goalies, Caroline Benck and Lauriane Menegildo. Benck played the first half finishing with six saves while Menegildo took the second half with two saves.

The Saints look to grab another marquee win on Saturday when No. 11 ranked Cowley College visits Redskin Field for a clash at 5 p.m.