49th District soccer tournament results – Wed, 10/14

On Wednesday, October 14 both the Corbin Redhounds and Lady Hounds soccer teams were in action at this year’s 49^th District tournament, being held at Whitley County High School.

The boys team came into the 2015 season with the goal of becoming four-time region champions, but those hopes were dashed Wednesday when they fell 3-2 to the South Laurel Cardinals in the district tournament semifinal round.

South came ready to play, going up on Corbin 3-0 before the end of the first half. The Redhounds scored their first goal in the second half on a Lucas Canineu penalty kick, and Canineu was able to score again with only seconds remaining in regulation. Despite a valiant effort, Corbin ended their season with an overall record of 10-5-1.

After the loss, Head Coach Armando Cima was understandably very disappointed. “There was a lot of nerves out there on our side,” he said. “When you’re defending what we are defending, multiple championships, the pressure becomes even more difficult to bear for the kids. Basically, all South had to do tonight was come out and put pressure on us. They played very physical, very hard, and that was enough to get us out of sorts.”

“This is quite likely the best team I’ve ever coached in terms of technical ability,” Cima continued. “I don’t think anybody who is honest would doubt the statement that this is the best team in southeast Kentucky, but the best team doesn’t always win. This is a very special group. I just hate this for them. They wanted so much more, and they deserved so much more.”

Things went a little better for the Lady Hounds Wednesday, as they were able to defeat the North Laurel Lady Jaguars 2-0 to advance Thursday’s 49^th District championship game.

Sophomore Abby Baker scored both of Corbin’s goals in the win, one in each half. The goal in the first half came off of a corner kick from fellow sophomore Nikki Wells.

With the win, the Lady Hounds now sit at 7-6-3 on the year, and they will face South Laurel at 5:30 pm on Thursday, October 15 with a chance to become district champs on the line. No matter how Thursday’s contest plays out, however, Corbin has already punched their ticket to this year’s 13^th Region tournament, which will be played next week at Corbin Primary School.

For full coverage from Thursday’s district championship game, as well as more information on the 2015 region championship tournament, be sure to pick up the October 21 edition of The News Journal.