SOCCER SHOWDOWN

The Corbin Redhounds grabbed the number one seed for next week’s 31st District Soccer Tournament to be played at South Laurel High School.
The Redhounds (6-5-2) undefeated in regular season district play combined to beat the other teams 5-1. They shut out North Laurel and South Laurel by identical 2-0 scores but tied Oneida Baptist 1-1 last week. They got a forfeit from Middlesboro to earn the top seed.
Corbin will play the winner of the Middlesboro-North Laurel game, Tuesday at 8 p.m.
Redhound coach Armando Cima said he is not going to look over any team in the district. “We have not shown well in the last couple of matches,” he said. “At least not as well as you would like.”
The Redhounds earned a 1-1 tie against district foe, OBI, a team they had defeated 3-0 two weeks prior to that in the All “A” Tournament. “We tied OBI in our last game and we just didn’t show very well. I didn’t think we deserved to tie in that game,” said Cima.
“We have two challenging games to end the regular season,” said Cima. “We play Somerset (Tuesday night) and Richmond Model Saturday.”
“We would like to turn it around a little bit, not that everything has gone downhill, we have played very very well and everybody gets into a slump,” said Cima. “I think the boys kind of overlooked OBI because we had beaten them rather easily earlier in the year.”
“As long as we go into each match knowing every match from here on out is going to be a battle, we will be as prepared as we can be,” said Cima. “We’ve got to go in with that attitude.”
“We’ve got a good core of juniors and the majority of our starting team is made up of sophomores,” said Cima. “That bodes well for the next couple of years.”
Should the Redhounds get past the winner of the North Laurel-Middlesboro game they would likely meet host, South Laurel. “If you look at the teams that’s the way it should flush out, but you never know,” said Cima.
Cima feels OBI could be playing their best ball of the season. The Mountaineers traditionally come on strong at the end of the regular season. “They get more and more used to each other and more and more fit because their teams come in late,” he said. “Where the rest of us get a good four to six weeks start, OBI never gets that, they generally get a week or two of practice before the season starts.”
“They always play better toward the end of the year,” said Cima.
Before the Redhounds get to the championship game, he is concerned about his first-round opponent. “We can’t overlook either one of those teams.”
If the Redhounds get out of the district they will likely face Perry Central down the line. “They have to be considered the favorite,” said Cima. “They have not lost a game and they beat us and we won our district.”
The Commodores led by Charles Turner, Zach Hall and Jr Lunsford are 15-0 on the season going into their district tournament at Belfry. Their closest game was a 2-1 win over Russell at Russell.
“They have to be considered the favorite,” said Cima.
Cima said the Redhounds played Perry Central close and “they took the most of their opportunities.”
“They have a couple of kids that really know how to finish,” he added. “They play to those kids and they play a very direct style.”