The Kosciusko (3-6, 1-1) boys opened the Region 3-4A portion of their schedule in dramatic fashion with a contest that needed extra time to be decided.
In the end, the Whippets walked away from their match last Thursday as 2-1 winners over New Hope. Kosciusko and New Hope played to a 1-1 tie at the end of regulation and the end of the first overtime period. Rather than play a second overtime period, both teams decided to determine the game by penalty kicks in a shootout.
After the first round of penalty kicks ended in an 8-8 tie, Kosciusko’s John Mark Sims kicked the game-winning goal in during the second round of shootouts.
“It was a game for the ages, if you will, for our first district game,” Kosciusko coach Greg Cooper said. “It was 0-0 at halftime; 1-1 at the end of regulation. Both of us scored on PKs, and then we went into overtime and played two 15-minute halves, still 1-1. So we went into shootouts. We went through all 10 players and went back around to the 11th when we finally won it.”
Last Tuesday, Northwest Rankin defeated Kosciusko 7-0.
The Whippets host Caledonia Tuesday in a Region 3-4A contest, and Starkville travels to Kosciusko Friday to round out this week’s action.
GIRLS
The Kosciusko girls fell to 1-7 overall and 0-1 in Region 3-4A play after a pair of losses last week.
Northwest Rankin reeled off eight goals in an 8-0 home win last Tuesday, while New Hope earned a 4-1 home victory last Thursday.
“It was tied 1-1 at the end of the first half,” Cooper said of the New Hope match. “It just looks like we ran out of steam. Just didn’t have enough to keep up the pressure that we needed to keep up. New Hope came out with good energy in the second half and just took that game back.”
The Lady Whippets will have a chance to grab their first Region 3-4A win of the year Tuesday against visiting Caledonia, and they welcome Starkville on Friday.
Tuesday’s game is a district game, and we’ll have one more district game next week with Louisville,” Cooper said. “So it’s just business as usual, and working on the things that we need to work on. One thing that we talked about is our transition from offense to defense or defense to offense. We really want to work on that. Just looking at our touches and doing the things we know we need to do day in and day out. Keeping our mindset focused on these next two district games. The main thing we look at in the season is those six district games that we have on the schedule. That’s what gets you into the playoffs. We’re keeping our sights on that right now, and Caledonia is who is next on the agenda.”
