Ashley girls soccer begins practice, determined to finish the job

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WWAY) — Monday marks the beginning of high school spring sports practices, including for Ashley girls soccer.

The Eagles have made the state title game in each of the last three seasons, but have come up short every time.

Erik Graf enters his sixth season as head coach. He says their recent success has laid the groundwork for what it’s going to take to make the fourth time be the charm. That starts with moving past what they’ve dealt with as of late.

(Photo: Colton Emswiler/WWAY)

“It’s about renewal,” Graf said. “Our philosophies every season is different. One season ends, another season begins. One has nothing to do with the other, other than the experiences you take with you. We just feel our system and what we do, on and off the field, with our players works. We tweak it here and there. We get rid of things that don’t work, add things that we think will push us further.”

Ashley had a trio of thrilling matchups with Hoggard last season, including one in the playoffs that the Eagles won. The two strong programs will not meet in the postseason anymore, but Graf says the 7A bracket is the most competitive in the state.

(Photo: Colton Emswiler/WWAY)

Senior Sarah Brannin has been with the team during their trips to the title game and says players old and new are on the same page, even on day one.

“We’re very unified as a program,” Brannin said. “We’re close on the field, we’re close off the field. We struggle together, we go through all these workouts together and really get to know each other. We all keep the same mindset in the sense that we’re here to play soccer and we’re here to play soccer at the best of our ability. We’re here to win and we challenge each other to do that.”

(Photo: Colton Emswiler/WWAY)

The Eagles will be without some players at times this season as they compete for other teams overseas.