All four finals will be played on Saturday, with game times
11 am, 2 pm, 5 pm and 8 pm. This will be the seventh 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 520 and the stream is available on line at www.news14.com. Then they will be available
on Carolina on Demand, digital channel 199 or 1047 on Time Warner systems
across the state, within a couple of days after the championships.
The first game Saturday is scheduled for an 11 a.m. start
for the 3-A championship, sending a perennial power, Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons
(21-2-1) against a newcomer to the state finals, Hickory St. Stephens (21-3-2).
St. Stephens knocked off Charlotte Catholic 1-0 in the regional finals on
Tuesday night.
Gibbons, in the finals for the fourth time, is led by Duke signee Christina Gibbons and junior all-American Morgan Reid, who has verbally committed to Duke and competed for the U.S. under-17 team in the 2012 FIFA World Cup. Macy Frankliln, the Northwestern Conference Player of the Year, paces St. Stephens and has scored 47 goals this season, including 12 in the playoffs.
The Saturday 2 p.m. game is for the 2-A title, with
Swansboro (22-5-1) taking on South Iredell (22-2).
Swansboro is in the finals for the third time in the last five years and sixth overall, and won state crowns in 2006, ’09 and ’10. South Iredell makes its first appearance in the championships after knocking off previously unbeaten East Bend Forbush 1-0 on Tuesday night in a regional final.
Swansboro has outscored its opposition 115-21 this year and
has recorded 17 shutouts, including an amazing 27-0 edge in the
playoffs. South Iredell, though, hasn’t allowed a goal in the
postseason either and the Vikings are led by Catawba Valley Athletic Conference
Player of the Year Miracle Campbell, with 27 goals this season.
The 4-A game will kick off at 5 pm and will pit two
outstanding teams against one another in a rematch of last year’s 4-A final. Unbeaten
Cary Green Hope (27-0), ranked number one in the nation according to one
service, will face Cornelius W.A. Hough (21-2).
Last year Hough rallied in the final minutes to nip Green
Hope 2-1 and went on to record 32 consecutive victories, an NCHSAA record,
before the streak was ended in late March. Green Hope has not lost since
last year’s state final.
The unbeaten Falcons have a potent offense to go with a
stingy defense, with 147 goals scored this season against just 15
allowed. Alexis Degler and Alexis Shaffer each have 38 goals on the
season. Hough’s scoring is topped by Brandi Arey (20 goals) and Courtney
Carroll (19), while Marnie Merritt has 18 shutouts in goal.
The final game at 8 p.m. will be for the 1-A title, with
Raleigh Charter (20-1) taking on Lake Norman Charter (18-3-3). Raleigh Charter
is in the finals for the third time, winning the title in 2007 and making its
first visit to the finals since 2009, while Lake Norman Charter is the
championship for the first time.
Senior goalkeeper Carolyn Huddy of Lake Norman Charter was
the Southern Piedmont Conference Player of the Year and will play at
UNC-Wilmington next year. Raleigh Charter is led by senior captains
Rachel Hammond and Ilana Green, with Green committed to play at The Citadel
next fall.
The Raleigh Sports Consortium serves as the primary host
city partner for the women's soccer championship, along with the Raleigh
Convention and Visitors
Bureau.
NORTH CAROLINA
HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION
28th ANNUAL
WOMEN'S SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIPS
DAIL SOCCER FIELD,
NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY
SATURDAY, MAY 25,
2013
Class AAA: Raleigh
Cardinal Gibbons (21-2-1) vs. Hickory St. Stephens (21-3-2), 11 am
Class AA: Swansboro
(22-5-1) vs. South Iredell, 2 pm
Class AAAA: Cary
Green Hope (27-0) vs. Cornelius W.A. Hough (21-2), 5 pm
Class A: Raleigh
Charter (20-1) vs. Lake Norman Charter (18-3-3), 8 pm
NCHSAA FastFacts
Event: NCHSAA Women's Soccer Championships
Date: May 25, 2013
Site: Dail Soccer Field, North Carolina State University
Game Times: 11 am, 2 pm, 5 pm and 8 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 32 in 1-A
Last year’s champions: Cornelius W.A. Hough (4-A),
Jacksonville White Oak (3-A), Carrboro (2-A), Southwest Onslow (1-A)
Host City Sponsors: Raleigh Sports Consortium, Raleigh
Convention and Visitors Bureau
Of Interest: Raleigh Broughton with 13 and Greensboro
Grimsley with 12 have the most appearances in the NCHSAA women’s soccer
championships.
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