UPDATE- The varsity women’s soccer team defeated Red Springs 9-0 Wednesday night. Alex Rodman, Jessica Wallace, Anna Leigh Vincent, Ida Greenlee, Casey Bouker, Sydney Dunstan, and Brayleigh Jones all scored goals for the Lady Nighthawks. Katarina Tsonev, Ida Greenlee, Nora Harrison, and Casey Bouker were all credited with assists.

UPDATE– After the win against Red Springs, the varsity women’s soccer team defeated Durham School of the arts by a score of 3-1 this past Saturday. The lady nighthawks next game is on May 20 against Midway High School, a tenth seed in the east region. Game time starts at 6:00 p.m.

UPDATE- With the help of senior Jessica Wallace’s hat trick, the lady Nighthawks defeated Midway this past Wednesday by a score of 6-0. The road to states continues this Saturday, as First Flight takes on Dixon in a fourth round match up. Tickets are six dollars and game time starts at 5:00 p.m.

UPDATE- The lady nighthawks playoff run ended this past Saturday,  as the team suffered a 3-1 loss to Dixon High School. Dixon would go on to play Carrboro High School for the east regional championship and lose 1-0. Carrboro will face west regional champion Forbush this Friday for the 2A NCHSAA Women’s Soccer Championship.

The women’s varsity soccer team wrapped up the regular season with a record of 16-1-2, while winning conference for the eleventh straight year. The team never lost to a conference opponent and was able to pick up six wins against non-conference teams. A game against 6A First Colonial High School out of Virginia Beach was the only loss the Nighthawks suffered this season.

With the regular season concluding, the state playoffs have now come into focus. The Nighthawks are the number two seed in the 2A east region for the NCHSAA. Red Springs High School, the 31st seed, is the first round opponent that the team will face. The Lady Devils from Red Springs High School sport a 7-12 overall record, but the Nighthawks have been preparing for this moment ever since the beginning of the season.

“Coach Ingram and myself have been putting the pieces of this puzzle together ever since the cold days of February, and when the pieces all contribute equally I think we have a good chance to go deep into the playoffs. I think the soccer maturity of some of our youth will surprise some of our opponents and fans,” Head Coach Mark Cross said.

In order for the team to succeed, it is crucial that unity stays present throughout the playoffs.

“We keep reiterating to the team that united we can succeed, but divided we will definitely fail. Each player is a contributing cog in this machine, if one fails to do their job or tries to run the machine themselves, we lose our flow and bad things start to happen,” Cross said.

The expectations for the team’s success in the playoffs are pretty high, but Senior and midfielder Anastasia Ratti has high hopes for their playoff run.

“As a team, I hope we continue to play to our full potential and make it all the way to the state championship,” Ratti said.

The first round game against Red Springs will be held today, May 13 at home on the football field. The game time starts at 7 p.m. and updates on the team’s games and scores will be posted on NighthawkNews.org.

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