WILLIAMSBURG — Whitley County survives to play for another day thanks to a hard-fought 3-1 win over South Laurel during first round action of the 49th District Boys’ Soccer Tournament.
The No. 4 seeded Colonels (7-9) captured their first-ever district tournament win, and will now face-off against defending 49th District and 13th Region champion Corbin, who enters the tournament with the No. 1 seed.
The Redhounds (6-6-1) won both meetings between the two teams, defeating Whitley County, 2-1 at home in September 11, and 4-0 on the road on September 16.
Whitley County will face-off against Corbin on Monday at 6 p.m.
“We knew it would be a tough match even though we had beaten them earlier this season, that was before we lost our leading scorer,” Whitley County coach Michael Branham said. “We came out strong and Jacob Senters scored a goal within the first 10 minutes. It was 1-1 at half but they were a man down, so we knew we had the advantage the rest of the game.
“Our defense and goalie played extremely well tonight, Canaan Parsons had 27 saves,” he added. “Jacob Senters added another goal in the second half and we played defensive the rest of the game. With six seconds left Levi Huddleston put the icing on the cake with a goal to give us the 3-1 win. This was our first district tournament win in program history, we are proud of the direction we are moving and I’m beyond proud of my guys for the effort and heart they gave tonight.”
The Colonels entered Saturday’s match looking for momentum after posting a 1-7 record during their past eight games.
Jacob Senters gave Whitley County a 1-0 lead four minutes into the match before South Laurel’s Zach Rayburn tied the game at one apiece during the 17th minute.
A collision in the box at the 23rd minute between Senters and South Laurel keeper Caleb Whicker left both players injured while a red card was issued to Whicker.
The Colonels failed to convert on a free kick while Senters returned before the end of the first half.
The game remained tied until the 57th minute when Senters scored his second goal off an assist by Brody Moses.
Levi Moses put the finishing touches on the Colonels’ win with a goal during the 79th minute.
South Laurel finishes the season with a 6-11-3 record.
