By John Mesh
The No. 16-ranked Hutchinson Blue Dragon women’s soccer team pitched a 2-0 shutout against Barton Community College in a Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference matchup Wednesday night at the Salthawk Sports Complex.
HutchCC struck first when Haley Rogers assisted on a Katherina Marx goal for a 1-0 lead.
Marx and Rogers traded places on the second Blue Dragons’ goal. Rogers scored the goal and Marx got the assist for a 2-0 HutchCC lead. That was the lead at halftime and the end of the game.
Hutchinson’s Karsyn Slothower, who was named the KJCCC Division I Goalkeeper of the Week on Tuesday, made 8 saves on 8 shots on goal. Barton’s Mio Tanaka made 3 saves on 5 HutchCC shots on goal.
Rogers took 3 shots on goal. Marx, Joscelyn Losew and Nancy Stefanek each took 1 shot on goal. Katelyn Edwards took 2 shots.
Hutchinson improved to 9-2-4 overall and 8-2-4 in the Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference. Barton is 7-5-3 overall and 5-5-3 in league play.
The Blue Dragons play at Kansas City Kansas Community College at 1 p.m. Saturday. KCK (16-5) is the No. 16-ranked team in NJCAA Division II.
HutchCC’s final regular-season and KJCCC game is 4 p.m. on Oct. 26 at home against Cowley County Community College.
Barton hosts Cowley County at 3 p.m. Saturday. The Cougars play at Garden City next Wednesday and Seward County on Oct. 26.
Kordell Gouldsby named KJCCC Special Teams Player of the Week
After posting the seventh-most single-game all-purpose yards in program history, Hutchinson Community College freshman return specialist Kordell Gouldsby became the sixth Blue Dragon to earn KJCCC Football Player of the Week honors on Tuesday.
Gouldsby was named the Week 7 KJCCC Special Teams Player of the Week after the No. 1-ranked Blue Dragons defeated Independence 48-7 on Saturday in Independence.
Gouldsby played a huge role in Hutchinson, accounting for 231 all-purpose yards.
The freshman return specialist from Tulsa, Oklahoma, had eight punt returns for 148 yards, including a 50-yard return for a touchdown in the third quarter.
He is the first Blue Dragon since Tyrell Reed Jr. in 2023 to return a punt for a touchdown.
Gouldsby also had 83 yards on two Independence kickoffs.
Gouldsby is the Jayhawk Conference leader in both punt returns (17.9 yards per return) and kickoff returns (33.6 yards per return).
He is the second Blue Dragon this season to win league Special Team Player of the Week honors, joining kicker Nestus Burger.
BLUE DRAGON KJCCC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Week 1 – Offense: Waymond Jordan Jr.
Week 2 – Offense: Waymond Jordan Jr.
Week 3 – Offense: Samari Collier
Week 3 – Special Teams: Nestus Burger
Week 5 – Offense: Waymond Jordan Jr.
Blue Dragon Karsyn Slothower named KJCCC Division I Goalkeeper of the Week
Following one of her best single-game performances of her Blue Dragon career, Hutchinson Community College sophomore Karsyn Slothower was named the KJCCC Division I Goalkeeper of the Week for the first time this season.
In her only game last week, Slothower was instrumental to leading the No. 16 Blue Dragons to a 0-0 draw with No. 8 Butler last Wednesday at the Salthawk Sports Complex.
Slothower, a sophomore from Maize, made 11 saves against the Grizzlies, including four diving saves to keep the game scoreless.
Slothower’s performance against Butler gives her 146 career saves, which moved her past Carly McArthur (140) into second place on the Blue Dragons career saves list.
This was also the second time Slothower surpassed the 10-save mark in a single game.
This is the second-straight week a Blue Dragon goalkeeper earned KJCCC weekly honors.
Last week, freshman Marina Lopez earned conference honors. Slothower is the fourth Blue Dragon this season to win conference honors.
Slothower has now won four KJCCC Goalkeeper of the Week awards in her Blue Dragon career.
BLUE DRAGON WOMEN’S SOCCER PLAYER OF THE WEEK WINNERS
Week 2 – Haley Rogers, Player
Week 3 – Kira Artmann, Player
Week 6 – Marina Lopez, Goalkeeper
Week 7 – Karsyn Slothower, Goalkeeper
Jepchirchir named KJCCC Women’s Cross Country runner of the week for 3rd time
Three races as a Blue Dragon runner and three victories for Hutchinson Community College women’s cross country runner Faith Jepchirchir.
Now the Blue Dragon freshman earned her third KJCCC Women’s Cross Country Runner of the Week award, which was announced on Tuesday.
The only thing that Jepchirchir hasn’t tripled up on is school records, but she did that for the second time this season after winning the Region 6 Preview at the Kansas Veterans Home on Saturday in Winfield.
Jepchirchir posted a school-record time of 16 minutes, 55.33 seconds over 5,000 meters on Saturday to lead the Blue Dragon women on the same course where the 2024 Region 6 Championships will be contested on Friday, October 25.
The Blue Dragon freshman is the first Blue Dragon runner in program history to win three races in one season.
She was the first to break the 18-minute barrier two weeks ago at the Chili Pepper Festival.
Now Jepchirchir is the first Blue Dragon to break the 17-minute barrier.
Jepchirchir is also a two-time NJCAA National Runner of the Week, another first for a Blue Dragon cross country runner, female or male.
2024 BLUE DRAGON KJCCC WOMEN’S RUNNER OF THE WEEK WINNERS
Sept. 3 – Faith Jepchirchir
Oct. 1 – Faith Jepchirchir
Oct. 15 – Faith Jepchirchir