The Kokomo Wildkats hosted non-conference foe McCutcheon and lost to the visitors in a back-and-forth physical, and at times bizarre affair Tuesday night. In a physical match that became chippy and included five yellow cards and one red card issued to the Kats, the Mavericks struck first and then held on to defeat the Wildkats by a final score of 6-4. The pace and defensive pressing of the Mavericks caused problems for the Kats from the start, and the Kats conceded nine minutes into the match to go down 1-0. McCutcheon would score twice more over the next 17 minutes to build a 3-0 lead, but with five minutes left in the half, senior winger Javier Carrera passed to senior captain Ben Herrera who put the Kats on the scoreboard with his seventh goal of the season. In the second half, the Kats played better in some aspects, but still struggled to slow down the Maverick attack. After conceding two more goals to the visitors and going down 5-1 and having a player ejected, the Kats notched three goals in the final ten minutes of play to make it close. Junior Adrian Reyes’ free kick landed at the feet of Carrera who knocked home the second tally of the night. Carrera assisted Leo Giordani’s second goal of the season, and senior Henrique Alvarenga De Oliveira beat his mark on the right side of the penalty area, and passed to Carrera who notched his second goal of the night. The Kats (7-2-0, 2-0-0) scored their final two goals 19 seconds apart, and did so with only 10 players on the pitch. The man of the match is senior winger Javier Carrera who had a hand in all four Wildkat goals and finished with two goals and two assists. In the junior varsity match, the Wildkats struggled with the pace and quality of McCutcheon. When the Kats scored their second goal in the sixth minute of the second half, they cut the lead to one at 3-2. The Mavericks would score two more before the Kats (3-2-2, 2-0-0) could strike again, and then knocked home the final two goals of the night for a 7-3 victory. The man of the match is sophomore Nathan Lay who scored two of Kats’ three goals and was relentless in pressing all night. The Wildkats will regroup before hosting Lafayette Jeff Thursday evening for Senior Night. The junior varsity match kicks off at 6 pm, and Kokomo will recognize its senior class in between the junior varsity and varsity matches at approximately 7:30 pm.