Ardrey Kell girls soccer wins NCHSAA 4A state title over Ashley High of Wilmington
The Ardrey Kell High School girls’ soccer team is finally a North Carolina state champion.
The Knights made their fifth appearance in the NCHSAA 4A state finals Friday night at UNC-Greensboro and got the win they’ve been looking for, beating Wilmington’s Ashley High School 3-2.
Ardrey Kell (25-3-1) was back in the state final for the second straight year after being upset by Raleigh’s Cardinal Gibbons in the 2022 state final, when the Knights were ranked No. 3 in America.
Like last season, some of the Ardrey Kell players were crying after the game was over. Only this time, they were tears of joy.
“It feels amazing,” Knights star Taylor Suarez said. “We knew we were in this for a reason. This isn’t a coincidence. You just don’t make it back to a place like this twice. We deserve this. We’ve worked for this, and to lose last year and then come back and be put in this position again, I mean we weren’t going to let it go.”
Ashley (25-2), which had its 11-game win streak snapped, was ranked No. 3 nationally by MaxPreps, the highest of any N.C. team, and was playing in the finals for the first time. No Screaming Eagles team had won a state championship, in any sport, since 2007.
Ashley also survived a big early push by Suarez and the Knights, who appeared to want an early knockout. The Knights peppered Ashley with a barrage of shots early, but only one — off a beautiful 1-on-1 move from Suarez — found the back of the net. Screaming Eagles’ goalie Morgan Tucker made save after save to keep her team in the game.
Ardrey Kell got 10 shots on goal before Ashley got one, but Ashley star Karina Peat made her team’s first one count, scoring on a long solo run that ended with a high shot, just over the outstretched arms of Knights goalie Caroline McSweeney.
“We never got down, though,” said championship MVP Ally Casey, who scored two goals off Suarez assists. “We just knew we were the better team. We played better most of the game, and we just knew if we tried our hardest, we could win It.”
The teams were tied 1-1 at halftime, and the Knights grabbed a 2-1 lead on Casey’s first goal in the second half. Ashley, however, tied the game about three minutes later, taking advantage of a hand ball in the box that led to a penalty kick score.
Ardrey Kell answered by raising its level — and its pressure — and Suarez found Casey for the game-winning goal with 26:42 to play.
The Knights (25-3-1) won their 14th straight game and became the second Mecklenburg County team to win the title in the past three years. Myers Park beat Pinecrest, 2-0, in the 2021 final.
Afterward, the Knights made sure to give their coach, Kim Montgomery, a Gatorade shower. The smiles were everywhere.
Mission, finally, accomplished.
“So this is not only for last year,” Montgomery said, “but for the three previous trips Ardrey Kell made (to the finals) without me, with coach Jeff Mercado. This win is for them, too. The passion this program has to want to play and give everything and bring a championship to their school is amazing. We have never done it, and the fifth times the charm. And after last year, it was very hard to navigate (the 2023 season).
“But the amount of work the girls did to build their own identity and to get back here and win — to finally win it — c’mon! That was amazing.”
Shots
Ardrey Kell 14
Ashley 8
