CORBIN — North Laurel secured the No. 1 seed in the 49th District with a hard-fought 3-2 win over Corbin on Wednesday.
The Jaguars, now 9-5-2 overall and a perfect 4-0 in district play, held off a late Redhound surge to clinch the victory. Corbin dropped to 7-6-1 overall and 2-2 in district games.
“I felt we came out with good intensity tonight, but they were able to squeak one in past our keeper early that put us down, 1-0,” North Laurel coach David Broyles said. “We didn’t let that slow us down though and we were able to get even when Malik Turner drew a PK that Jaxon Jacobs converted. We grabbed the lead a few minutes later when Eli Davis crossed a ball into the box that Jaxon was able to put a foot on for the goal. The rest of the half I felt we had more chances but just couldn’t convert. We
“We came out strong to start the second half, and Reilly Stuber was able to find the back of the net to extend our lead to 3-1,” he added. “Corbin drew a penalty midway through the half that they converted to get to within one, but we were able to withstand their pressure with good defense to preserve the 3-2 win. Overall, I felt we played better tonight against a good Corbin team that was ready for us. It’s never easy to get the win on their field, but we were able to survive.”
The Redhounds struck first at the 36:44 mark of the opening half when Silas Mackey found the net to give Corbin a 1-0 lead. North Laurel answered back quickly, with Jaxon Jacobs scoring twice — once at 19:34 to tie the match, and again at 8:47 to give the Jaguars a 2-1 lead heading into halftime.
North extended its advantage in the second half when Reilly Stuber scored at the 20:17 mark, making it 3-1. Corbin pulled within one on JP Carmichael’s goal with 9:23 left, but the Jaguars’ defense held strong down the stretch to preserve the 3-2 win.
