The Kokomo Wildkats traveled to conference foe Lafayette Jefferson and defeated the hosts by a score of 3-1. The Wildkats defended much better as a team and thwarted the Broncho attack all night. Junior co-captain Ben Herrera appeared to score the first goal in the 20th minute of play when the Broncho keeper bobbled the ball of of Sr. co-captain AJ Blessing’s free kick, but the referee waived off the goal. Though the first half ended in a scoreless deadlock, the Wildkats continued to create chances. In the fourth minute of the second half, Herrera played the ball to the left flank where Junior Javier Carrera slotted the ball toward goal to Senior Flory Bidunga. Bidunga darted between two Broncho defenders, settled the ball with his chest inside the penalty area, turned, and fired a shot into upper right corner for a 1-0 lead. It was an excellent combination that led to a beautiful goal. Five minutes later, Herrera again connected with Carrera, and after beating two defenders on the left corner of the penalty area fired a missile into the upper right corner for a 2-0 lead. The Wildkat bench erupted! The Bronchos would not go away, however. When the Wildkats failed to clear a cross into the box which resulted in a handball, the hosts scored from the spot to draw within one. The Wildkats responded moments later when Herrera scored a beautiful free kick which curled just over the Broncho wall and under the crossbar, eluding the goalkeeper’s hands for a 3-1 lead. The Wildkat defense held the Broncho attack at bay to finish off the match. Freshman Ethan Landrum stopped a breakaway late in the match, notching his 9th save on the night. The center back pairing of So. Caden Polk and Fr. Augie Gruber effectively shut down the Broncho attack, and outside backs Rylan Early (Jr.), Adrian Reyes (So.), and Charlie Mavrick (Fr.) proved up to the challenge on the flank and forced the Bronchos to play negatively. The central midfield tandem of Sr. co-captain AJ Blessing and Jr. Henrique Alvarenga De Oliviera helped establish possession and stymie the Bronchos all night long. Your man of the match is Jr. co-captain Ben Herrera who finished with one goal and two assists. The Junior Varsity played its best match of the season, but fell 2-1. Jr. Khoi Van scored a brilliant goal off of a corner kick to give the Wildkats a 1-0 lead heading into the second half. Sophomore keeper Nolan Grippe made several outstanding saves to keep the Kats close. The Wildkats (3-6-0, 1-3-0) host conference foe Logansport Tuesday.