Published: November 10, 2009 09:08 am      

The Shutout Queens

By Tim Branstetter / Staff Writer

The Corbin Lady Redhounds just completed one of their best seasons in school history by finishing with an impressive 10-4-3 record.

“On a whole I was pleased,” Corbin coach Eric Steely said. “It’s really nice to have a winning season. It is great for the program and for the kids.”

The Lady Redhounds used a dominating defense to lead the way this season. They posted an amazing 12 shutouts and only allowed 13 goals all season.

“It was a little surprising,” Steely said. “In the past we would allow like 20 more goals than we scored on a season. We were so young, so it really surprised me how well our defense played all season long.”

Corbin put together a seven game win streak that started with a 4-0 win at Middlesboro. During the streak they recorded five shutouts.

“I figured we would make a lot of mistakes and have some bad games because we were so young,” Steely said. “But they played great. They played so well together. They made me so proud.”

The Lady Redhounds outscored their opponents 40-13 this season, but finished the season with two straight losses. The first was a 3-1 loss to Berea and they were defeated 3-1 by North Laurel to end their season.

“It was a little disappointing,” Steely said. “The girls really surprised everyone in so many games this season and the way it ended was really tough to except. You never want to lose your last game, but if you do you want to play your best and we were not able to do that.”

Steely admitted he witnessed a different mindset with his team. After years of losing games, they finally put together a successful season and their expectations changed.

“They just weren’t used to winning,” he added. “Their whole mindset has changed now. They are going into games expected to win every one of them and it’s great. They really have a lot of confidence now.”

The Lady Redhounds were led in scoring by Kaitlin Baker. Baker was not available for the last game of the season.

“It leaves you with the whole what if,” Steely said. “If everyone is there, maybe we still don’t beat North Laurel, but just not knowing really makes it hard on me. We lose six seniors so I think it will be tough to get back where we were. We do have some young talent, but it’s hard to replace the leadership we are losing.”