LYNN — The KIPP boy’s soccer team is off to a solid start and has been on a roll lately.
The Panthers are 7-4-1 and have hit some milestones and learning curves along the way through the season so far.
“This team has been the best, I’ve only been coaching for two years, last season and this season, but the chemistry compared to last year is off the charts. The boys have been playing a lot together, eight out of the 11 starters have been playing with each other since the beginning of middle school… It shows when they go out there,” KIPP coach Josh Canales said. “They go out to battle for one another every single day, so it’s great.”
Jelder De Leon and Cristian Garcia Bermundez have stood out to Canales. The duo have played with each other since middle school.
“Jelder De Leon and Cristian Garcia have been crazy good for us, there’s more names I could say, but those two have honestly been our stars. Cristian Garcia is our star center back and center defensive mid. He has so much control and orchestrates so much on that field,” Canales said. “Jelder De Leon plays up top now this year. He plays up top with Raffy Consoro, who is another one of our stars at striker and they have been playing together since sixth grade. They have just been going crazy. They have topped their season goal records for any year they have been in high school. Jelder has scored in every single game we have played, there hasn’t been a game where he hasn’t scored for us, so it has been great.”
When asked what he believes can be improved between now and the end of the season, Canales believes the strong chemistry can still improve.
“I think the chemistry could still improve. I feel like last year the reason why we didn’t finish as far as we should have was because there were a lot of different personalities. They just didn’t know how to mesh well together, there were just things there that didn’t allow us to go as far as we wanted,” Canales said. “Looking at where it is this year compared to last year really translates to the type of season that we have been having.”
The goal is always to win, but improving every year is something Canales is big on.
“My goal for the season is to go as far as we can. My goal, personally, is to go farther than any of the prior years, so that would mean getting into the quarter-finals of states. We were in the second round last year and lost in overtime, so that was a bit of a bummer. But this year, it’s definitely to advance further in states and to really prove a point and put us on the map. The group of boys I have are really dedicated and working super hard,” Canales said.
The Panthers have been creating history all season which includes the program’s first win against Lynn Tech.
“We are 7-4-1 right now. We beat Tech, which was the first win against Lynn Tech in our program’s history. It was a really good win,” Canales said. “We have been beating teams in divisions higher than us and our schedule has been jam-packed. The competition we’re playing this year is so much higher than in the past.”
KIPP has something special with its soccer program and is ready to finish the regular season strong and make more history when the postseason comes.
The Panthers will travel to Tyngsborough on Tuesday to take on Innovation Academy at 5:45 p.m.
Owen Finn is a student at Endicott College studying journalism
