After a slow first half, Barbe senior Mia Owens’ second-half hat trick helped spark Barbe to a 4-0 over New Iberia Tuesday evening and stay on top of the Division I, District 2 standings.

Owens upped her season total to 25 goals.

“She has had a pretty solid season,” Barbe head coach Todd Hoffpauir said of Owens. “We have some other girls that have 10 or 12 goals apiece. The goals come from everywhere, but she just had a fantastic night just trying to get on the end of headers and corner kicks.”

Gracie Self set up Owens’ first two goals on perfectly placed corner kicks and scored one of her own on a penalty kick for the Bucs’ lone goal in the first half in the 24th minute after the Yellow Jackets were called for a handball inside the 18-yard box.

After three corner kicks and two offsides calls in the first 10 minutes of the second half, the Bucs doubled their lead when Owens scored her first goal in the 52nd minute on a header. She scored her next two in a 4-minute span, starting in the 65th minute with her second header followed by a breakaway goal to complete the natural hat trick.

“I thought in the second half our girls came out and played with a little more intensity and urgency,” Hoffpauir said. “They wanted to go at the goal and put a few more in the back of the net.”

Barbe (15-3-2) limited the Yellow Jackets (11-3-1) to a single shot on goal by Talia Touchet in the 34th minute and cleared out three corner kicks in the first half.

“Our defense did a good job of keeping our shape and limiting their opportunities,” Hoffpauir said. “I think they got behind us one time and our keeper was able to come out and pick up the ball for us. Our defense did an outstanding job.”

The Bucs went into the game on their first losing streak of the season after weekend losses to Catholic-New Iberia and Dominican at the Teurlings Catholic tournament. The win will be key as they host last year’s district champion, Acadiana (4-6-3), on Thursday and runner-up Lafayette (10-1-8, 1-0-1) on Monday.

“We had a few injuries and I was really proud of the way some of the girls stepped it up and took advantage of their opportunities,” Hoffpauir said. “It was good to get a win in district against New Iberia.

“They have a lot of wins, and they are up there along with Southside and Lafayette. Like always, it is a very difficult district. They are a really good team and we had to work really hard for the result.”