Grudge Match: Ashley beats Hoggard 3-1 to advance
WILMINGTON, N.C. (WWAY) – In the 4th round of the NCHSAA girls soccer playoffs, Ashley went on the road and knocked out MEC rival Hoggard 3-1 on Thursday.
Scoreless midway through the 1st half, Sarah Brannin’s free kick from midfield found Savannah Manset who then shot into the net to open the scoring for the Eagles.
The Vikings tied it up before halftime with a top shelf goal from Avery Fisher.
Just over two minutes out of the break, a rebound shot went in from Riley McNulty to push Ashley ahead once again. Kieran Bradley added another soon after for what would be the final goal of the match.
Hoggard entered as the top seed in Class 4A East, but that meant nothing to the 12th-seeded Eagles.
“Obviously seeding doesn’t matter at all,” Bradley said. “It was lucky how we got to stay here for the third round and play against them. Like coach said, there’s no pressure on us since we’re not the number one seed anymore. We have nothing to prove, but we still stepped up. We did everything we could. Everybody out there in those stands were doubting us today and we just showed what we’re about.”
“Hoggard’s definitely a good team,” Manset said. “We played them in conference twice and in was obviously nerve-racking. But our team has worked so hard in the playoffs, at practice. We went out to practice on Saturday morning. We gave it our all. We knew coming out here that it was going to be a fight and it could go either way. But we were a family at the end of the day.”
The run of good fortune continues for Ashley. An upset on the other side of the bracket gives them a home game in the Class 4A East championship game. The Eagles will face Millbrook on Tuesday with the winner earning a trip to the state title game in Matthews. Ashley is looking to make it to state for the third year in a row.
