Hounds hang on to win at South Laurel

The Corbin Redhounds soccer team traveled to London Monday evening to square off against district rival South Laurel.

The weather was perfect, and a very enthusiastic crowd was on hand to cheer as these two teams competed in an intense match that looked at one point to be in the bag for the Hounds. The Cardinals would not give up, however, and came back to make things very interesting in the end.

It all started when Corbin senior Ryan Thaler inadvertently knocked the ball into his own goal, giving South a 1-0 lead with 28:52 remaining in the first half. About three minutes later, things were evened up at 1-1 when Tulio Canineu booted a corner kick to brother Lucas, who sent it into the opposing goal for a point at 25:41.

Jacob Storms gave the Redhounds the lead at the 20:18 mark with a goal, and Canineu added to that at 5:15 to make it 3-1 in favor of the visitors.

Both the Cards and the Hounds had some good looks at goals before the whistle sounded to signal the end of the first half, but neither team could convert until sophomore John Lowe scored in the final minute to give Corbin the 4-1 lead.

South Laurel attacked the goal ferociously to begin the second half of play, but thanks to good defense by the Redhounds, and some impressive saves by junior goalkeeper Brandon Dizney, Corbin was able to maintain their three-point lead. That is, until 20:50 remained in the game and freshman Cardinal Jacob Christensen scored, narrowing the gap to 4-2.

Lucas Canineu and Jacob Storms both had good opportunities at goals in the next four minutes, but each attempt was either blocked or just missed going in.

South Laurel’s Jacob Smart cut the Corbin lead to 4-3 with a goal at 9:23, and the Cardinals threatened several times after that. Dizney maintained his strong presence at the net though, leading to Tulio Canineu firing in a goal in the final minute of play to shut the door and give the Redhounds the 5-3 victory.

The win improved Corbin’s record to 5-5 on the year, with South falling to 8-6.

After the game, Redhounds Head Coach Armando Cima expressed some concern with the way his team finished out the contest. “I thought we played well in the first half,” he said. “But I also think that we relaxed a little too much at halftime. We put ourselves at a disadvantage in the second half by not playing in a way where we could keep the ball more than they did.”

Cima also said that mental fatigue might have factored into why the Hounds allowed the Cardinals to rally late in the game. “When you build up momentum and posses the ball without creating enough good opportunities, and then allow the other team to drive it back down your throat, that does tend to mentally tire you out,” he explained. “We just have to learn to be stronger than that.”

Corbin now looks to tomorrow night (Thurs), when they will host a game against the Lexington Christian Eagles (7-7-1). Start time for the varsity game is tentatively scheduled for 7:00 PM.