Although the Prestonsburg Lady Blackcats Soccer season came to an end Monday night as they lost in the State Tournament to West Jessamine 4-0, another regional title demonstrated the success of the Lady Blackcat program over the past decade. I had the opportunity to talk with Coach Burchett about his Lady Blackcats.
Regional Championship Game against JC
“We were ready to play in the championship. Especially after JC had upset us last year in the region finals.” Burchett said. “ Obviously getting the first goal, no matter how much you feel like you’re controlling a game, is always important. And freshman Jade Fitzpatrick gave that to us about halfway through the first half. Anna (Burchett) scored a second one before halftime and I really felt like we had them at that point. We completely controlled the second half and the game was never really in question.” The Lady Blackcats cruised to the 5-1 victory over the Golden Eagles. The victory gave the Lady Blackcat Soccer Program 3 of the last 4 Regional Championships.
Program Success
“As for our success over the years, we’ve had a lot of good players. Good players make a coach look good! The girls work hard and want to be the best team and put in a lot of time to try and achieve that. “ Burchett explained. Burchett also explained good feeder programs are key to any teams success. “We have good youth programs that get kids interested in playing, we’ve had a middle school program for the last several now and that helps as well. We also get a ton of support from our school and Mr Thacker and Mr Kidd. The day of the region finals they had a pep rally at school for the girls soccer team. Things like that make a difference. It makes girls want to play. “ The city has provided tremendous support system for Prestonsburg High School and the surrounding community. Burchett prasied the city for this partnership by saying, “ we also get a lot of support from mayor Stapleton and the city. Our Bermuda field is the nicest field in eastern Kentucky. And the atmosphere on big game nights at stonecrest is great. Success does build on itself. The more you win and have success, the more people want to be a part of it. And I think that’s happened with us over the 8 years I’ve coached.”
Coaching Anna Burchett
“(Talking about Anna Burchett) I expect after the all state meeting this weekend she will once again be first team all state. So she will finish her career as 4 time 15th region player of the year, 4 time 1st team all state (not sure how many girls have ever accomplished that). KHSAA single season goal record with 88. And she also has the second highest single season goals scored with 79 (this season). All time career leader in goals scored with 275. The previous record was 217. 4 district championship and 3 region championships. It’s honestly unreal what she has accomplished in 4 years. Beating the state record for goals by 58 and that included a covid shortened season her sophomore year when she only scored 37. 88 as a freshman, 37 as a sophomore, 71 as a junior, and 79 as a senior. She also finished her career with 99 assists, which makes her 2nd all time in KHSAA history in assists.” Burchett said.
