The Kokomo Wildkats hosted county rival Northwestern and defeated the Tigers 5-2. Kokomo controlled the tempo and possession early, and held the Tiger attack in check for most of the first half, allowing only four shots and shutting them out. Senior midfielder Arthur Barbosa’s penalty kick gave the Kats a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute, and senior winger Javier Carrera doubled the Wildkat lead ten minutes later. Junior goalkeeper Alan Lopez kept a clean sheet in the first half highlighted by a penalty kick save. In the second half, tempers flared, but Kokomo kept its cool. After a Northwestern player was ejected just two minutes into the second half, they rallied to cut the lead in half off of a corner kick. Kokomo responded nine minutes later when Barbosa scored his second goal of the night. Northwestern adjusted, however, and closed the gap to 3-2 just two minutes later when their winger broke through the left side of the Wildkat defense and scored. Carrera notched his second goal of the night with seven minutes remaining, and senior winger Guilherme Baldinu notched the final tally of the night with five minutes left in the match. Senior captain Ben Herrera finished the night with three assists, and junior netminder Alan Lopez recorded four saves while allowing two goals. The Wildkats (2-1-0, 0-0-0) open conference play Saturday at Muncie Central. Your man of the match is senior Javier Carrera who has opened the season by scoring in each match and now has four goals on the season. Junior Varsity In the first junior varsity match of the season, the Wildkats drew with Northwestern 2-2. Sophomore Nathan Lay opened the scoring 40 seconds into the match for a 1-0 lead off of an assist by sophomore Braedyn Booker, and sophomore Jadon Colescott assisted Booker’s goal in the second half. The Wildkats played well and had chances to win the match in the closing moments.