Yahoo Sports Four Charlotte-area teams punch ticket to NCHSAA girls’ soccer state championship games
The N.C. High School Athletic Association’s girls’ soccer championships will be played at the Matthews Sportsplex Friday and Saturday.
A Charlotte-area team will play in each of the four games.
Marvin Ridge (4A), South Point (3A), Pine Lake Prep (2A) and Christ The King (1A) all won West Region championship games Tuesday night.
Marvin Ridge’s hot run continues
Marvin Ridge has punched its ticket to the 4A girls’ soccer state championship on Tuesday night after defeating Mooresville at home.
The Mavericks dominated both sides of the ball in the Western Regional champonship game, winning 4-0 and advancing to the final at 7 p.m. Friday against Wilmington’s Ashley High.
Ashley (22-0-2) is ranked No. 5 in the country by MaxPreps — second-highest in North Carolina behind No. 1 Providence Day, the NCISAA state champ. Ashley beat Hoggard High, also from Wilmington, 2-1, in the Eastern Regional championship Tuesday.
Ashley beat Marvin Ridge, 5-1, on March 9. The Mavericks, playing under rookie coach Jenna Borrelli, started the season 2-3-1, including that Ashley loss. Since then, the Mavericks (14-4-5) have only lost once and currently have a six-game win streak where they’ve outscored opponents 26-3 and posted four shutouts.
The Mavericks kept up that impressive play Tuesday, starting with a goal from forward Maddie Graham. After Mooresville goalkeeper Brit Warham missed an attempted save near the penalty arc, Graham recovered the ball for an uncontested goal to give the Mavericks the lead.
Eight minutes into the second half, Graham evaded two Mooresville defenders to score her second goal of the night.
At the 26:27 mark, Marvin Ridge forward Isabella Zicchinolfi assisted teammate Lucy Chin with a cross field pass for the Mavericks’ third goal to go up 3-0.
Six minutes later, midfielder Campbell Homan scored the last goal for the Mavericks.
The Mavericks locked in on defense for the rest of the match to seal victory.
“Maddie [Graham] coming in and scoring a scrappy goal really helped the momentum and once we started scoring, it just started coming,” Borrelli said.
Said Mavericks’ first-year assistant coach Katie Morton: “We talked at halftime that ‘we have more in us. We’re not satisfied with one goal, we have more in us.”
CTK, Pine Lake, South Point move on
▪ Christ The King advanced to its third straight state championship in 1A, beating Polk County, 5-0, in the Western Regional championship game. The Crusaders beat Woods Charter in the past two 1A championship games, and the same teams will meet at 11 a.m. Saturday for the title. Woods Charter beat Durham’s Voyager Academy, 2-0, in the Eastern regional.
▪ Pine Lake Prep won its ninth straight game and advanced to the 2A final with a 3-2 win over Wheatmore. Wheatmore had played in the past two state championship games, winning in 2022 and losing in the 2022 finals.
Pine Lake Prep, which scored the game-winning goal with 17 minutes left, will play in its first state final against Seaforth at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Matthews Sportsplex.
▪ South Point advanced to its second straight 3A state championship game, outlasting North Davidson, 2-1, in overtime. South Point finished its 19th straight game without a loss after starting the season 0-2-1.
The Red Raiders were in their fourth straight regional championship game and will try to win the school’s first girls’ soccer state title later this week. South Point lost 4-0 to Eastern Alamance in the 2023 final.
The Raiders will face East winner Jacksonville at 2:30 p.m. Saturday for the 3A championship.
