Nationally ranked rivals Providence Day, Latin meet in familiar spot: NC state finals

A year ago, Providence Day swept its two regular-season girls’ soccer matches with Charlotte Latin.

Then in the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association’s 4A state championship match, Charlotte Latin scored twice in the final 20 minutes and beat Providence Day 2-1.

Providence Day has swept both matches again this season against Charlotte Latin.

And now the two teams are meeting Saturday at Providence Day for the 4A state title. Providence Day is ranked No. 4 nationally by MaxPreps. Charlotte Latin, which has only lost to Providence Day this season, is No. 16.

They are the two highest-ranked teams from North Carolina.

“Oh, believe me, we’re aware of the parallels between last year and this year,” said Blane McElroy, a junior striker and leading scorer for Providence Day. “There’s no way we could’ve forgotten about last year.”

If not for the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, this would be the eighth straight year that Charlotte Latin (20-2) and Providence Day (22-1-1) have met for the NCISAA’s big-school championship.

“It’s sort of a tradition that Lee and I started,” Providence Day coach Dan Dudley said, referring to now-retired Charlotte Latin coach Lee Horton. “Now Kyle (Searles, who replaced Horton last year) is keeping it going.”

Two years ago, the Chargers beat Charlotte Latin on penalty kicks. Last year, the Chargers took a 1-0 lead before the Hawks rallied.

“That was tough to take,” said McElroy, a Purdue commit who has 37 goals and 30 assists this season. “We were up 1-0 for a long time, and then it was gone.”

“I think we’ll be a lot more focused this time,” she added.

A few of the current Chargers weren’t around for that disappointment a year ago. Among them is the team’s No. 2 scorer, junior Jaida McGrew (23 goals, 13 assists).

“I’ve heard a lot about what happened but didn’t experience it,” said McGrew, a Florida State commit.

“But it’s big for me,” added McGrew, a former multi-sport athlete at Mountain Island Charter who won state championships in track and field with the Raptors. “I know the feeling of a state championship, but not in soccer. I’d like to win it.”

The Chargers are the product of a brutal schedule.

Their only loss this season was to Wilmington’s Ashley High, the top-seeded 4A East team in the public schools’ playoffs. Providence Day has beaten such soccer stalwarts as Catawba Ridge, Weddington, Ardrey Kell, Myers Park, Page and Oceanside Collegiate (SC).

“It’s a killer schedule, but it’s made us tougher,” Dudley said. “And our players have responded well to it.”

“We play like there is always someone bigger or better than us out there,” said McElroy, who was a gymnastics standout before moving to soccer about seven or eight years ago.

“In every match, we are trying to make a statement,” added McGrew, who’s been playing soccer since age 4 and began concentrating on the sport in recent years.

“We are always getting the other team’s best shot,” McElroy said. “We know there’s a target painted on us.”

“We are just about every team’s biggest game,” McGrew said.

McElroy and McGrew said they know many of the Charlotte Latin players and added that the rivalry, while intense, is one in which players from each team have respect for their opponents.

“It’s actually a super rivalry,” Dudley said. “Just look at how it ended the last two years!”

Dudley, McElroy and McGrew acknowledge that it’s tough to beat a good opponent three times in a season.

“But we had that match last year, and then it slipped away,” said McElroy, whose younger sister, Devin, a sophomore, is the team’s No. 3 scorer. “We can’t let that happen again this time. We owe it to the seniors on this team.”