Kankakee Valley High School

The KV varsity boys soccer team secured its third shutout of the season with a dominant 3-0 home win over visiting Twin Lakes on Saturday morning. The Kougars would lead wire-to-wire and controlled the game throughout to earn their fourth win of the season. From the opening whistle, KV came out with good energy and put a lot of pressure on their opponent when they had the ball. The Kougars had more of the possession and created many offensive chances as well. Some of those opportunities were shots near the Indians penalty box, corner kicks, and even free kicks. At the 15 minute mark of the half, the Kougars finally would break through on the scoreboard. After a foul, a 30 yard free kick from senior Liam Ooms found sophomore Creed Veach inside the Indians penalty box. Veach headed home his second goal of the season to give KV the early 1-0 lead. Eleven minutes later, senior Trevor Poplawski sent a long free kick from his own half over the top of the Indians defense. Freshman Bryce Moore tracked down the long ball and was able to maneuver his way past the last defender. He would then slot home his right footed shot to the lower left corner to give KV the 2-0 lead. The score remained the same as the whistle blew for halftime. In the second half, the Kougars continued to control much of the ball and create chance after chance in their attacking third. However it took until two minutes left in the match for KV to get one more past the Twin Lakes goalkeeper. A long through ball from freshman Sebastian Nuss found fellow freshman teammate Bryce Moore on a speedy run that beat the back line of Twin Lakes. As Bryce Moore collided with the Twin Lakes goalkeeper, the ball popped out to freshman Eli Hildebrandt. He would first-time his left footed shot from 15 yards out to the upper left corner to give KV the late 3-0 lead. As said in tennis terms, the final goal would be: Game. Set. Match. The KV defense was stout throughout the match and limited any serious chances for the Twin Lakes attack. Freshman Damien Vargas earned his third clean sheet of the season and finished with three saves. Also of note: Freshman Eli Hildebrandt earned his first regular season goal of his high school career. Senior defender Trevor Poplawski also picked up his first assist in his four high school seasons. "I'm very proud of my team today," said head KV coach Jovan Jeftich. "This win was a long time coming, but it was one that was well earned by our entire team. I was very pleased to see many of the things we've been working on in practice come to fruition during the game. By working hard, improving, and doing the things we work on is what can continue to give us success moving forward. We'll use this win as motivation for next week, especially for our next game on Senior Night." KV will finish off the regular season next week with three games in four days. They will be back in action on Wednesday in a tilt with conference foe Andrean at Fred Jones Field. That game will take place on Senior Night when all four senior Kougar players will be honored: Trevor Poplawski, Liam Ooms, Jake Hamstra, and Landon Palfi. The Senior Night ceremony will take place at 5:30 p.m. with the game to follow at 6 p.m. Game Statistics Goals Creed Veach 1 Bryce Moore 1 Eli Hildebrandt 1 Assists Liam Ooms 1 Trevor Poplawski 1 Bryce Moore 1 Saves Damien Vargas 3 Record 4-9