Corbin to take on St. X

Lucas Canineu passes the ball to a teammate in Tuesday night’s 3-1 win over Perry Central. Canineu scored one of the three goals in the win that will send Corbin to the state Elite Eight against #1 Louisville St. Xavier.

The Corbin Redhounds are headed to the KHSAA Elite Eight after beating Perry Central in the first-round of the state high school soccer tournament Tuesday night at the Corbin Soccer Complex.

Corbin (14-5) got on the scoreboard when senior Andrew Webb got the ball past Perry Central goalkeeper Tyler Holland with 24:33 in the first half. That was the spark the Redhounds needed as sophomore Tulio Canineu followed two minutes later with a shot from the middle of the field for a 2-0 lead.

Tulio’s brother, freshman Lucas Canineu booted the ball over Holland with 12:45 left in the half to give the Redhounds a 3-0 lead.

Perry Central came out fired up in the second half and challenged the Redhounds. “It didn’t surprise me. You have to be ready for something like that. They didn’t have anything to lose,” Corbin Coach Armando Cima said.

The first half we had our way with them and should have had more than three goals,” Cima said. “We were composed and playing our game. In the second half we came thinking it would be more of the first half and they wouldn’t change anything they were doing.

But, at this time of the year if you lose you go home. They pushed more people forward and put pressure on us. That extra pressure caused us to get on our heels a little bit and we panic,” Cima said. I don’t know why you would panic with a 3-0 lead, I don’t have any idea.”

The win sends the Redhounds into Saturday’s Elite Eight against not only the #1 team in Kentucky, but also the #6 team in the nation. The Tigers come in with a record of 23-0-2. Goalie Zachary Roehrig has not been scored on for eight straight games. The last team to score against the Tigers was Greenwood High School, who left Louisville with a 1-1 tie. St. Xavier has one other tie and that came against Brebeuf Jesuit of Indiana, 1-1.

Roehrig has 17 shutouts on the season.

The win over Perry Central and the Redhounds first-ever trip to the Elite Eight according to Cima is huge for his program. “We are back where we want to be. “Last year was disappointing getting knocked out in the second-round of the district to South Laurel, 1-0,” Cima said.

“I think this is big from a couple of standpoints,” Cima said. “We want to contending for a district and region titles every year. We should be, we are a good school and have a good program. We have history now, this is the 20^th year of the program (Cima started the program in 1992).”

“I think it is huge to go on and be in the Elite Eight and get the opportunity to plays schools like St. Xavier and South Oldham,” Cima said. St. Xavier defeated South Oldham 3-0 and will take on the Redhounds Saturday at 5 p.m. at Henry Clay.

“It is a David and Goliath scenario for sure,” Cima said. “But, those are where the great sports stories are made.”

“Whatever the outcome is, we are not suppose to win that game,” Cima said. “Nobody knows who Corbin is, everyone knows who St. X is, they are sixth in the nation. So. From that standpoint we can go in relaxed and play and we obviously have to adjust things.”

This will be the biggest game in the Redhounds program to date. “It is a wonderful experience for these boys and a wonderful experience for our program,” he added. “Thank about that legacy these seniors will leave.”