HAZARD — The North Laurel boys’ soccer team continues to make history, advancing to the their first-ever Elite Eight appearance with a 3-0 win win over Perry Central on Monday.
Nerves might have played a role in the beginning, but once those were calmed, the Jaguars (15-5-3) put on a dominating effort, and will now face-off against Ryle on the road Thursday in an Elite Eight showdown. The Raiders defeated defeated Bishop Brossart on Monday, 2-0.
“We came out a little nervous tonight, but settled in within a few minutes,” North Laurel coach David Broyles said. “Their turf is a little faster than ours so we had to adjust. We possessed the ball fairly well and controlled the game for the most part. Overall, I felt we played well and connected passes when we needed to.
“Our back line played one of their best games tonight led by Kristopher Hagan, who ended the night with a goal and an assist,” he added. “Tanner Broyles and Jaxon Jacobs added a goal apiece and Aydn Ebersole earned another clean sheet. We will enjoy tonight and then get back to work in preparation for our next game versus a good Ryle team.”
North Laurel got on the scoreboard 22 minutes into the match when Jaxon Jacobs scored off a cross by Kristopher Hagan.
Tanner Broyles pushed the Jaguars’ lead to 2-0 during the 70th minutes off of a free kick while Hagan found the back of the net on a penalty kick with two minutes remaining to seal the win for North Laurel.
