LYNN — Despite jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first half, the KIPP boys soccer team ended up making a couple of mistakes down the stretch and was forced to settle for a 2-2 draw against Winthrop in the Panthers’ home opener at Manning Field Wednesday night.
“It feels good to come out and get the first point of the season in the MIAA and the league,” said KIPP coach Jon Langlois. “Our guys came out with high intensity and a lot of pressure, and that gave us the upper hand for a while. But we made a couple of mistakes down the stretch that led to goals for Winthrop, and that was the difference.”
Henry Romero and Marco Escobar each scored one goal for KIPP, while Josue DeLeon played another solid game on the defensive end.
For Winthrop, Juan Guaque and Chad Bernstein each scored one goal, while Esteban Alvarez had one assist.
“It was a hard-fought game,” said Winthrop coach Kyle Gagin. “We got off to a really slow start in the first 20 minutes, but after that first water break we really settled in and started playing better soccer. We just kept fighting the whole way, and that was great to see.”
The Panthers jumped out early and played well from the opening kick, using high pressure defense and a lot of energy to get the momentum in their favor. It paid off in the 14th minute, when Romero got the ball on his foot and was able to find the back of the net to give KIPP at 1-0 lead. KIPP went ahead 2-0 about 11 minutes later, when Escobar scored his second goal of the season.
“It was a great start for us and we were really passing the ball in circles around them and playing how we wanted to,” said Langlois.
But Winthrop wasn’t done. The Vikings got one back right before the half with a goal from Guaque in the 31st minute, then they tied the score up early in the second half when Bernstein found the back of the net in the 46th minute.
“Our guys just never stopped battling,” said Gagin. “They kept pushing the whole game and crawled all the way back in it.”
The two teams battled back and forth from there for the rest of the game, but neither team could get the upper hand and the game ended in a draw.
Winthrop (1-0-1) travels to Northeast Tech Monday afternoon (4).
“I think the biggest takeaway from this game is just the fight that our team has,” said Gagin. “In past years, when we fell behind 2-0 like that we might’ve packed it in. But these guys never stopped working and it paid off with a tie. We’re going to try to continue that positive momentum into next week now.”
KIPP (0-1-1) hosts Greater Lawrence Monday afternoon (4).
“We left the game with a couple of minor injuries, so we’re probably going to take it easy for a bit over the next day or two before getting back to work,” said Langlois. “But our goal is to just keep pushing forward and keep improving every game, and hopefully we can continue that progress on Monday.”
