By Jeremy D. Wells
Carter County Times
Both the boys and girls East Carter soccer teams won their district championships last Wednesday, taking both teams into the 16th Regional tournament with strong records.
The East Carter High School boys won their district championship in a match against Greenup County that saw the team’s Ethan Miller break a nearly 30-year-old record for the region and goalie Trevor Cline take second place in all-time career shut-outs.
“It’s been a good season,” Raiders head coach Quinn Huddle told the Times.
The team has played 11 of the games on their schedule for the 62nd district, winning eight of those, and only one game canceled. With COVID-19 going around, Huddle said, they’ve been lucky.
“We’ve had three or four teams shut down (due to the virus),” Quinn said. “Luckily we’ve not been called yet.”
Of the eight games they’ve won, seven were shut-outs. That’s put Cline closer to overcoming the region’s record for shut-outs, but it was Miller who broke the record last Wednesday. Miller’s first goal tied the regional scoring record, and his second broke it, all in the first half of the game. Another goal before the game ended put Miller’s record even further out of reach for anyone chasing it.
“He now has 109 all time career goals,” Huddle explained. The record he broke was set in 1991 by Paul Blazer’s Stuart Smith.
“It’s a testament to them,” Huddle said. “This senior class had a lot of success (because)… they keep wanting to score.”
After clinching their 62nd district championship, East Carter drew the by in the first round of the 16th Regional tournament. Huddle explained they would play the winner of the Boyd County and Menifee County game.
Boyd County won that game this past Saturday, which means the Raiders were set to face-off against the Lions last night. That game had not been played yet at press time, but scores will be posted online.
The East Carter Girls soccer team also finished first in the 62nd district, with an undefeated record and one tie over eleven games – two were canceled due to COVID-19 concerns – and six shutouts, including the final game of the districts against West Carter, where they held the Lady Comets scoreless for a 4-0 victory.
Contact the writer at editor@cartercountytimes.com
East’s Ethan Miller is presented the game ball at halftime of the championship game of the 62nd District Tournament. He became the career goal scoring leader in the 16th Region during the first half of the game against Greenup County. (Photo by Mason Branham, Greenup Gazette) 
Gage Erwin (11) of east Carter controls the ball in the second half in East’s 7-0 win over Greenup County in the finals of the 62nd District Tournament. (Photo by Mason Branham, Greenup Gazette) 
The Raider’s goalie Trevor Cline is now in second place in the region for all-time career shut-outs. (Photo by Jeremy D. Wells, Carter County Times) 
East Carter’s Ethan Miller broke a 29-year-old record to claim the most career goals in the 16th Region during the Raiders win over Greenup County last week. (Photo by Jeremy D. Wells, Carter County Times)