The Kokomo Wildkats hosted conference foe Richmond and defeated the visitors in a back-and-forth physical affair, 5-3 Saturday, and took sole possession of first place in the conference race. In a physical, chippy match which included six yellow cards and one red issued to the visitors, the Kats struck first and held on to defeat the Red Devils for the first time in several seasons thanks to some timely and fantastic finishing. Although Richmond applied pressure early, the Wildkats struck first in the 8th minute when junior forward Arthur Barbosa passed to senior winger Javier Carrera on the right side of the penalty area. Carrera finished his chance at the far post for a 1-0 lead. Two minutes later, Barbosa stole an errant back pass and slotted home the second goal of the day for a 2-0 lead. After the Red Devils responded with a nice individual effort by their forward, the Wildkats finished the half when senior captain Ben Herrera slotted a nifty pass to Barbosa who finished for a 3-1 halftime lead. In the second half, the Red Devils redoubled their efforts and closed the gap to 3-2 in the second minute on strike from the left side of the Wildkat penalty area. Then, the game opened up. The Red Devils continued to apply pressure and committed some physical fouls, but the Wildkats responded. In the tenth minute, junior midfielder Leonardo Giordani’s first time goal came off of Barbosa’s well placed corner kick to give the Kats a 4-2 lead. The Red Devils continued to apply pressure and play more directly, and they earned a penalty kick which they converted to bring the game to 4-3. In the final moments of the game, a Red Devil player was sent off, and the Wildkats capitalized, scoring the fifth goal with just under two minutes to play. Barbosa’s well timed pass to Carrera resulted in an absolute screamer from the left side of the Red Devil penalty area to close out the scoring and the game, 5-3. Your man of the match is junior striker, Arthur Barbosa. In the junior varsity game, the Wildkats (3-1-2) played exceptionally well, limited the Red Devil attack, and notched a 4-0 victory, their third of the season. Sophomore Ethan Landrum earned his third shutout of the season, and sophomore Braedyn Booker scored a brace with sophomore Jadon Colescott and junior Logan Isaacs knocking home penalty kicks. Booker leads the JV team in goals and is your man of the match. Although the games turned out to be physical and chippy, be proud of both of your Wildkat teams: over the past three games, the Wildkats have not been issued a single yellow or red card. The varsity team has won six straight matches, and the junior varsity team is unbeaten in their past three matches. The Wildkats host McCutcheon on Tuesday and Lafayette Jefferson on Thursday for Senior Night.