IT COMES TO AN END | Nevada Community slips past Kilgore, 2-1, in soccer’s regional finals

It never feels good when it ends.

And it didn’t on Tuesday night.

The Kilgore High School soccer Bulldogs’ season came to an end on Tuesday at Terrell Memorial Stadium, a 2-1 loss to Nevada Community, who broke the 1-all tie with just under eight minutes left in the University Interscholastic League’s Class 4A, Division 1 Region II finals.

Kilgore’s season ends with a 21-4-1 record, just a little short of a return to Georgetown to play for a state championship – the Bulldogs were there a year ago, in coach Hector Peralez’s first season as head coach, getting all the way to the 4A state semifinals.

In Tuesday’s game at Terrell, Kilgore took a 1-0 lead when freshman midfielder Ethan Reyes scored with 11:58 left in the first half.

Community (15-3-2), who came into the game Tuesday night without a loss since back on Jan. 17 against Royce City, went to halftime trailing by the one goal. But not for long. The Braves punched back, tying the game with just over six minutes off the second-half clock (33:20), tying the game at 1-all,

The back-and-forth continued until Community finally put one in, the go-ahead score, with 7:54 left in the game.

The Braves led 2-1, and wouldn’t relinquish it; Kilgore wouldn’t be able to tie, and Community moves on.

So brings to an end a Kilgore season that saw the Bulldogs win yet another district title (they’ve won every single district championship dating back to 2010), this one with a 12-1-1 district record; they won all of their games at home, at R.E. St. John Memorial Stadium; and they went 3-1 in playoff games, taking out Hudson, Sulphur Springs and Celina before the loss to Community.

Incredibly, since the beginning of the 2022 season, the Bulldogs have won 98 games.