The 2024 high school boys soccer season came to an end Monday night in the 13th Region Tournament for the Harlan County Black Bears and Middlesboro Yellow Jackets.
On the heels of winning its fourth consecutive 50th District championship last week at the James A. Cawood field, Harlan County dropped an 8-0 decision to host North Laurel. Likewise, Middlesboro failed to score a goal in an 8-0 shutout loss to Oneida Baptist Institute.
After splitting a pair of regular season games, North Laurel (10-4-2) and OBI (16-4) vie for the Region 13 championship tonight at 6:00.
In the loss to North Laurel, Harlan County was unable to muster a single legitimate scoring opportunity against a skilled and disciplined defensive unit.
The Jaguars also scored twice during the first five minutes of the match to dig the Black Bears into a hole from which they could not dig out.
“We didn’t get any shots off at all,” Harlan County assistant coach Tracey Tye said. “That team was just hard to handle.”
Grant Abner scored the first of his two first-half goals during the opening minute of the match, and North Laurel led, 6-0 at halftime. Reilly Stuber also netted two goals for North Laurel.
Harlan County (9-5) heads into the offseason faced with the task of replacing five seniors, including starters Travis Burkhart, Bradley Brock, Ray Splawn and Keaton Simpson, all of whom were selected to the 13th District all-tournament team. Senior Josh Rigney is also being lost to graduation.
“As for next year, it’s going to be hard losing four of our starters, one being our goalie (Burkhart),” Tye said, “but we have a few (players) that can help push our offense.
“That leaves a hole in our back line that we will be looking to fill, but with the talent in our county I feel confident that we can push for number five.”
After capturing its first district championship since 2015, OBI collected its third consecutive shutout this season of the Yellow Jackets.
Amadeus Martin led the Mountaineers with four goals and two assists, while Jason Fan added three goals for OBI.
Mountaineers goalkeeper Jesse Dare-kuforiji was called on to make just two saves.
Dalton Fleet recorded nine saves last night for the Jackets.
Middlesboro is also tasked with replacing four senior starters from this season’s roster, including Sebastian Kyle, Trevor Raney, DeAndre Lightfoot and Mason Young.
The Yellow Jackets finished their season as 50th District runner-up, with an overall record of 7-6.
