Kentwood soccer loses sixth straight
Published 1:30 pm Monday, April 6, 2026
Kentwood High School’s boys soccer team has had a tough start to the 2026 season — just one goal through six games, and in a league with no easy matches, the season looks as daunting as ever.
The Conks fell to Auburn 1-0 on April 3 and were under assault from Auburn from the jump. This team lost a lot of players from last season, is missing one of their best players in Ethan Nonthaveth, and had at one point six freshmen on the pitch against Auburn.
Kentwood’s defense was tested all night against Auburn and conceding one goal seems like a win in its own right for head coach Scott Gibb. Coming into the game against Auburn, Kentwood had allowed 17 goals in their previous three games.
“The last three games have been tough, on the scoreboard and mentally. It was more of a mental knock that we are getting our butts kicked,” Gibb said. “That’s fine, you get it kicked what are you gonna do when you get it kicked? You gonna get up? Today they showed the right resolve.”
Wins are going to be extremely hard to come by for Kentwood. They played the team two spots ahead of them in the standings in Auburn Riverside and lost 4-0. This game against Auburn showed Gibb that his young players have some fight and that can come out even more as the season progresses.
“The result wasn’t what you wanted, but you battled. You battled for the full 80, now we have something to build on,” Gibb said.
Lakshya Pradhyay Veguru is one of those young players along with Deo Osias, who are gaining valuable playing time. The pair were Gibb’s wingbacks and had a lot asked of them for the full 80 minutes, and Gibb is impressed with what he saw. Both Veguru and Osias aren’t dominating figures, but what they lack in stature, they make up with hustle and energy.
“The only way you can describe that is dynamite in small packages. As Lakshya grows, he’s only going to get bigger, stronger, faster. He’s a very smart kid. We missed Deo for a week. He’s a very strong and savvy kid,” Gibb sad.
But the best player, ironically, is the only player to score a goal for Kentwood and was the goalkeeper against Auburn. Malik McIntyre had one misplay that resulted in the Auburn goal, but he saved a penalty and made countless saves to keep Auburn to just one goal.
“Even though he is technically the backup goalkeeper, I don’t have any qualms about putting him or Nicholas Hernandez in. Malik is a senior, a thoroughbred, he gets on the field and scores our only goal. Then he does things like this, it’s just highlights, constant highlights,” Gibb said.
Kentwood will continue their search for their first win against Mount Rainier on April 6 before taking on Kentridge, which is just one spot above Kentwood in the standings.
