Pairings Set For NCHSAA State Girl’s Soccer Championships At Dail Soccer Field At NCSU

RALEIGH – Four North Carolina High School Athletic Association women’s state soccer championships will be decided Saturday in the 30th annual NCHSAA finals, set for Dail Soccer Field at North Carolina State University.

Game times are set for 11:05 am, 2:05 pm, 5:05 pm and 8:05 pm. This will be the ninth year for a separate 1-A championship since the number of schools playing the sport increased to the threshold for having a separate championship.

All four of the games will be televised by Time Warner Cable on TWC special events channel 323 and the stream is available on line at www.news14.com. Then they will be available on Carolina on Demand on Time Warner systems across the state, within a couple of days after the championships.

The first game at 11:05 a.m. will be for the 4-A title, with Cary Panther Creek (19-0-2) making its second straight trip to the finals, this time to take on Charlotte Providence (23-1-1).

Panther Creek advanced past Wilmington Hoggard 2-1in the regional on Tuesday night. Justine James has 13 goals for the Catamounts and Emma Socca has scored 12. The Catamounts have been outstanding defensively, allowing just four goals during the regular season and is outscoring the opposition now, including playoffs, by a total of 55-6.

Providence makes its fourth visit to the women’s soccer finals and is similarly stingy on defense, allowing just four goals in the regular season while scoring 105. Six Panthers have committed to play collegiate soccer, including seniors Ellie Deaver (Charlotte), Michaela Daniels (Eastern Kentucky) and Lizzie Wilson (Queens).

The second game with a 2:05 p.m. start is for the 2-A championship, as Carrboro (20-0-1) battles East Bend Forbush (21-3-1).

Carrboro has had 10 games stopped by the nine-goal mercy rule during the season, but has won three tight 1-0 matches in the playoffs. Most amazingly, the Jaguars have allowed only one goal—one—all season long, on March 10 in a 1-1 tie against nearby rival Chapel Hill. Natasha Turner’s 24 goals leads the Jaguars on offense.

Forbush has shut out 18 opponents and has won 21 of its last 22. Junior midfielder Madison York paces the Falcon attack with 21 goals and 17 assists, but four other Falcons have scored 10 or more, giving Forbush lots of dimensions as it attacks.

The Falcons are in the final for the fourth time but are still looking for their first NCHSAA state women’s soccer title.

The Saturday 5:05 p.m. game is for the 3-A championship, with perennial contender Swansboro (25-2) taking on Asheville A.C. Reynolds (23-4).

Swansboro enters the 3-A championship match for the first time after winning four state titles at the 2-A level, most recently in 2013. Kimmi Moore was the Coastal Conference Player of the Year and leads the Lady Pirates with 36 goals.

A.C. Reynolds, in the finals for the first time, is led by senior captain Megan McCallister, the school’s all-time leading goal scorer and a three-time all state selection.

The 1-A game will kick off at 8:05 pm and sends the Phoenix of Raleigh Charter (19-0-1) against the Villians of Kernersville Bishop McGuinness (17-7-1).

Raleigh Charter is in the finals for the fourth time, with a state title in 2007 against this same Bishop McGuinness program. The Phoenix are led by all-state players Grace Nipp and Abby Rhodes, with Nipp having tallied 45 goals on the season.

Bishop, which played its entire 10-game non-conference schedule against higher classification teams, has a tremendously well balanced attack with four players having scored 20 or more goals, led by freshman Mary Kate Walsh. She tallied the game winner in the regional final with 19 seconds to go and her 28 goals is a new school single-season record.

The Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance serves as the primary host city partner for the women’s soccer championship.

NORTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
2015 WOMEN’S STATE SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIPS

Dail Soccer Field
North Carolina State University, Raleigh

THE SCHEDULE: SATURDAY, MAY 30

Class 4-A Championship, 11:05 a.m.
Panther Creek (19-0-2) vs. Providence (23-1-1)

Class 2-A Championship, 2:05 p.m.
Carrboro (20-0-1) vs. Forbush (21-3-1)

Class 3-A Championship, 5:05 p.m.
Swansboro (25-2) vs. A.C. Reynolds (23-4)

Class 1-A Championship, 8:05 p.m.
Raleigh Charter (19-0-1) vs. Bishop McGuinness (17-7-1)

NCHSAA FastFacts
Event: NCHSAA Women’s Soccer Championships
Date: May 30, 2015
Site: Dail Soccer Field, North Carolina State University
Game Times: 11:05 am, 2:05 pm, 5:05 pm and 8:05 pm on Saturday
Admission: $8 at gate
First Held: 1986
Qualifiers: Eastern and Western champions meet for state titles; 64 schools qualified for playoffs in 2-A, 3-A and 4-A classifications, and 59 in 1-A
Last year’s champions: 1-A: Community School of Davidson; 2:A: West Stokes; 3-A: Chapel Hill; 4-A: Cornelius Hough
Host City Sponsors: Greater Raleigh Sports Alliance
Of Interest: Raleigh Broughton with 13 and Greensboro Grimsley with 12 have the most appearances in the NCHSAA women’s soccer championships.