LONDON — North Laurel continued its postseason run Monday night, using a first-half goal from Eden Begley and another strong defensive performance to defeat Estill County 1-0 in the opening round of the KHSAA Girls’ Soccer State Tournament.
The Lady Jaguars improved to 9-7-2 with the victory, advancing to the next round of the state tournament.
North Laurel entered the matchup knowing it couldn’t afford to overlook an Estill County program with a history of postseason success.
“We knew coming in that we couldn’t take any opponent for granted no matter what the rankings show,” North Laurel coach Jason Welch said. “Estill has a great group of girls and there’s a reason they’ve won their district and region so many times.”
The Lady Jaguars relied on a defense-first approach and controlled much of the possession during the opening half.
“Our game plan coming in to tonight was to defend and see where that would take us,” Welch said. “We were able to control a lot of possession in the first half and our defense was able to hold off Estill’s attacks.”
North Laurel broke through when McKinley Mastin delivered an assist to Begley, who headed the ball into the net for what proved to be the game’s only goal.
“We found the back of net from a header by Eden Begley with an assist from McKinley Mastin,” Welch said.
The Lady Jaguars looked to extend their advantage in the second half, but Estill County’s defense kept the contest within reach.
“We wanted to add one more in the second half but Estill did a great job at keeping us at bay,” Welch said.
North Laurel’s defense made the one-goal advantage stand, delivering another shutout in a pressure-filled postseason matchup.
For Welch, the victory was another example of the progress his team has made throughout the season, particularly in learning how to win close contests.
“We’ve talked and worked all season about grinding out low scoring games and tonight I feel like that paid off,” Welch said. “We had great performances from every player on the field tonight.”
The first-year coach also credited his players for their ability to adjust to different formations and execute the game plan.
“The girls deserve all of the credit for this whole season so far, we can throw out almost any formation and they are finding their positions and winning the ball every chance they get,” Welch said.
Welch emphasized the importance of winning loose-ball battles against an Estill County team that consistently challenged the Lady Jaguars.
“Estill is great on 50/50 balls so I made sure we were attacking every one of those that we could tonight,” Welch said.
The victory keeps North Laurel’s season alive and adds another accomplishment to a postseason run that has already included a third consecutive 13th Region championship.
“This is another great win for our program and for these players,” Welch said.
