By Kevin Cunningham
Sports Correspondent
Soccer season kicked off on Aug. 23 for the Whitewater Whippets’ boys team against Elkhorn on the road. The Whippets’ start of the 2016 season could be seen as a difficult one, as its first match was against Elkhorn, a Division 2 opponent. The Whippets are slotted in Division 3.
The team also starts the year with four straight road games before playing its first home match on Sept. 6 against Delavan-Darien. Against the higher-placed Elkhorn Elks on Aug. 23, Whippets head coach John Chenoweth said the team was ready for action right from the starting whistle.
“Brian Reyes scored a header off a beautiful, long-ball cross from Thomas McManaway in the 32nd minute to put the Whippets in the lead,” Chenoweth said. “The team held the shutout and went into halftime with a 1-0 lead. Coming out of the first half, we knew Elkhorn would ratchet up their play to try to pull the game back.”
And, that’s exactly what Elkhorn did. Just 32 seconds into the second half, the Elks scored their first goal. Then, five minutes later, Elkhorn scored again, gaining a 2-1 lead.
Chenoweth said Elkhorn kept the pressure on the Whippets from that point forward. The two teams held each other scoreless for the next 20 minutes, but then Elkhorn scored another, making it 3-1.
Chenoweth said the team just ran out of steam at that point, and in the final five minutes of the game, the Elks put two more in, eventually winning, 5-1.
“While we were working towards a better outcome than the final score showed, there were many positive takeaways with great play from both starters and subs,” he said. “This team will re-group, work on a few items and get ready for our next game, away at Division 1 Janesville Craig on Thursday night.”
That contest against Janesville Craig is scheduled to start at 7 p.m. on Aug. 25 at Janesville Craig High School. The game will be Janesville Craig’s season-opener.
