Foster's hat trick pushes Butler past #12 Barton

GREAT BEND, Kan. - The Butler women's soccer team needed a late comeback to defeat #12 Barton 4-2 on Friday.

With the win, Butler (12-0 overall, 5-0 KJCCC) is now the only conference team that remains undefeated in league play, while Barton (8-3, 8-1) suffered its first conference loss.

Grizzly sophomore Morgan Foster scored three second-half goals - all in a 14-minute span - to complete the comeback over the Cougars. The hat trick is Foster's third in the last five games. Foster now has 16 goals on the season, which is second-best on the team.

With the wind at their backs, Barton took a 2-0 lead on goals by Bianca Barron and Aliya Marshall, both coming on defensive breakdowns by the Grizzlies. Marshall's goal came with 11:44 left in the opening half, but Brittney Lawrence quickly responded with Butler's first goal on a cross pass from Maddie Decker just 40 seconds later. Lawrence kicked a short grounder from the right side that found the inside of the left post for her team-high 19th goal of the year.

Butler maintained possession for most of the second half, but failed to get a score until Foster blasted a goal from the left corner of the box 20 yards out in the 74th minute.

With 2:22 to play in regulation, Foster then broke the 2-2 tie with a right-footed rocket from 25 yards out. Just moments later from nearly the same spot, Foster added an unassisted insurance goal to seal the victory.

Next up for Butler is a 7 p.m. Sunday match against Neosho County (2-7-1 overall, 1-5-1 conference) at BG Products Veterans Sports Complex.