Heading into last week, Kosciusko soccer coach Greg Cooper was not too thrilled with the weather that afforded both the Whippets and Lady Whippets just one soccer game through the first two weeks of January.
Mother Nature was more gracious last week, as both Kosciusko squads played two games apiece. The weather was more than welcomed by Cooper and his teams, as they begin their jaunt into the Region 3-4A playoffs this week.
The Kosciusko girls and the Kosciusko boys earned wins against West Point and Meridian.
“Getting all the games in sure did help us,” Cooper said. “We had senior night where we played West Point. Everything kind of came together there with both teams getting the amount of goals they needed to rule them. And then we continued it by going up and beating a 6A school in preparation for our playoff game (Tuesday).”
The Kosciusko girls defeated West Point 7-0 last Tuesday on a night where the program celebrated the achievements of its two seniors: AC Pickle and Ansley Gordon.
Raven Pernell recorded a hat trick behind a three-goal performance, and Pickle tallied two goals. Gordon, Lanna Nunley and Destiny Van also scored goals in the contest.
The Lady Whippets also defeated Meridian, 7-0, on Friday to improve to 9-6 overall on the season.
Mary Patton Henderson posted a hat trick with three goals, Pickle scored two goals, and Pernell and Reid Hutchinson scored one goal apiece.
The Lady Whippets were set to host Newton County (13-7) on Tuesday in the opening round of the Class 4A playoffs.
The Kosciusko boys improved to 7-8 this year with wins against West Point and Meridian.
The Whippet boys, who celebrated seniors Billy Paul Russell, Alfredo Marin and Jordan Ables, rolled to a 8-1 senior night victory against West Point.
Will Carter, Marin and Russell scored two goals apiece. Jon Gant and Dan Lindsay each contributed one goal.
Kosciusko defeated Meridian, 3-2, on Friday evening.
Dan Lindsay, Thomas Sims and Marin recorded goals against Meridian.
The Whippets host West Lauderdale (10-14-2) In their Class 4A postseason opener on Tuesday.
With the regular season behind both squads, Cooper said he has implored his team to have a win-now mentality.
“We talked today — we talked to both of them — I think we match up well with the two teams that we find ourselves playing in the first round,” Cooper said. “I told them they are games we can win, but we have to play. We can’t go out there thinking it’s going to be handed to us. We’re in the playoffs now. When we looked at it, there’s four games left: the first round, second round, north state and the state championship. We made it here — we’re one of the six teams, and we need to play that way.”
