WESTPORT — The No. 10 KIPP boys soccer team made a long trip down to the South Shore for a date with No. 7 Westport in the Division 5 Round of 16 Tuesday afternoon, and the Panthers couldn’t quite get the job done in a 2-1 loss.
“It was obviously tough to make the trip down there, but it would’ve been the same way if (Westport) had to drive up here,” said KIPP coach Jon Langlois. “We came out strong, but we’re a great turf team that had to play on grass and it slowed us down a bit. Westport came out with a good game plan and was able to come away with the win.”
Marco Escobar scored the lone goal in the loss for the Panthers.
It was Westport that struck first early on in the first half, but KIPP never stopped battling. Just a few minutes later, Escobar — who was pestered by multiple defenders all game long — finally broke free and found the back of the net to tie the score.
But Westport came right back with a goal of its own, scoring just before halftime to go ahead 2-1. From there, the Wildcats packed things in on defense and didn’t let the Panthers through for the rest of the game.
Despite the loss, Langlois said that he can look back at the season with a lot of positive memories.
“We anticipated a good season coming in, and we were able to achieve a lot of things,” said Langlois. “Making it to the tournament and playing a couple of games has been a great experience for us, and even though it’s not how we wanted things to end, we’re glad we made it this far.”
KIPP closes its season at 16-5 and says goodbye to four seniors in Escobar, James Paz, Chidindu Aniekwenagbu and Timi Oladunjoye.
“I’ve had Marco and James for four years, Timi for three and Chidi for two, and those guys are the best group of seniors a coach could ask for,” said Langlois.
