Carolina Ascent Fall 1-2 in First Home Match of 2026
With two losses to start the USL Super League’s spring season, Carolina is on the playoff bubble with 12 matches left.
Maybe the groundhog was right.
After two weeks of snow storms and school closures, the winds of winter were still blowing at American Legion Memorial Stadium on Saturday, February 7 as Carolina Ascent FC (5-6-5, 20 points) hosted undefeated USL Super League leaders Lexington SC (7-0-9, 30 points).
Unfortunately for the Carolina Ascent, their cold streak continued as well. Despite scoring the first goal of the match, the Ascent extended their winless streak to 4 matches with the 1-2 loss to Lexington SC in their first home match of the spring season.
Over the course of the match, temperatures remained in the 40s, the wind chill factor dipped into the thirties, and both the players and the 1,703 soccer fans in attendance experienced wind gusts as strong as 31 mph.
While the weather was an issue for both sides, Lexington may have accidentally given themselves a leg up; expecting warmer weather in North Carolina, the club arrived in Charlotte earlier in the week, but instead got to practice in the cold and snowy conditions. By match day, the snow and ice had been moved to the edges of the pitch but it still played a role in the contest. Players would have to navigate the obstacle while making runs to the goal line, and the home team’s ball girls occasionally had to dig the balls out of the mounds.
“I think it was a massively disjointed performance from us,” Ascent head coach Philip Poole said during the post-match press conference. “We never really got anything going. It was a pass or a shot or something here and there, but we could not sustain anything.”
The loss came on the heels of a heartbreaker in Jacksonville the week before; the Ascent dropped all three points in Florida due to a 85th minute winner from the home side.
“We created a lot of chances and I felt we were unlucky to not go into halftime 1-0,” said Poole after the loss in Jacksonville. “It ultimately comes down to if you create a lot of chances, you got to put them in the back of the net. I have a lot of positives to take, but disappointed to not get anything out of the game.”
Corbin’s Return to the Starting Lineup Pays Dividends
After a slow start against Lexington, the Ascent found an opening in the 35th minute as Mia Corbin - starting for the first time in 2026 - created a great opportunity for Riley Parker. Corbin dispossessed Lexington’s Alyssa Bourgeois at midfield near the sideline, took the ball forward and then sent a pass into the middle of the field as both Parker and Mackenzie George ran towards the ball. George, running right, let Parker, running left, take the ball down into the goal box, and get her shot between Lexington keeper Kat Asman and the left post.
Soccer Sheet asked Poole why the Ascent’s top scorer from last season had been in and out of the lineup in recent matches.
“I think it’s trying to find that formula again,” Poole said. “Mia Corbin’s a known quantity, and again, if you look at the past few games, we’ve not been scoring goals. So I think we’ve got, without ripping the piece pf paper and starting again, I think we’ve got to just look for combinations, look for the right formula, look for the right parings.”
Despite losing the battle with Corbin, Bourgeois would have the last laugh of the half, however, as a disorganized Ascent defense gave Lexington the chance to equalize right before halftime. Sydney Studer took a knock on the leg, so the Ascent were down to 10 players on the field.
Carolina had been struggling to get the ball out of their third for five minutes, and Lexington finally took advantage. The play started with Emina Ekić, who took advantage of a bad clearance and dispossessed Parker as she was trying to settle the ball. Lexington moved the ball around, first to Taylor Aylmer, then to Allison Pantuso, and finally to Bourgeois on the right side, approximately 40 yards out from the goal line.
Bourgeois launched the ball into the area into the area, and instead of trying to play the ball, Lexington’s Catherine Barry screened Carolina keeper Meagan McClelland, who along with defender Taylor Porter misjudged the ball and it’s bounce as it slowly, but inevitably, made its way into the net. It would be the first professional goal for Bourgeois.
“The first goal we conceded was horrendous. There’s no other word for it,” Poole remarked. “At a crucial time, it’s just a terrible goal to concede.”
Both teams left the half with one goal and one shot on target, with 8 shots for Lexington to 6 for the Ascent. After the break, it didn’t take long for Lexington to find their second goal. In the 52nd minute, Aylmer won a challenge against Corbin, and Lexington quickly moved up the field on the break. The ball found Barry, who made a terrific pass to McKenzie Weinert on the run; Weinert stayed onside, with enough speed to beat Studer and ensure a one-on-one against McClelland, and launched the ball into the goal from above the penalty spot.
McClelland had no shot at saving the ball, and Lexington claimed what would be the decisive goal.
“You can’t atone for two misplayed passes and a missed tackle, right? You can’t plan for that,” Poole told Soccer Sheet when we asked him about the second goal. “Just two bad goals to give away.”
There were bright spots for the Ascent, who kept up the press while effectively shutting down Ekić, the reigning USL Player of the Year. Despite numerous breakaway opportunities, the Ascent were able to match Ekić’s speed and prevent her from scoring; Ekić told Soccer Sheet she felt like she was double- or triple-teamed the entire match.
Looking Forward to Valentine’s Day
Parker left the match on an optimistic note after her first goal of the season.
“We’ve been creating so many chances all season and we just need to start putting them away,” said Parker. “It would have been much nicer to be walking away with the 3 points. It is funny because this morning I woke up and felt like I was gonna score, so to actually do it felt really good.”
The Ascent’s next match is back at Memorial Stadium on Valentine’s Day, Saturday, February 14 at 2:00 PM. Carolina will host Spokane Zephyr FC (4-6-7, 19 points), who are only one place and one point below the Ascent in the table.
Ascent Make Changes in the New Year
Though the snow temporarily closed the Ascent’s “Beach Club” behind the northwest goal, there were more permanent changes around the stadium.
The Ascent’s supporters’ section, the Base Camp, moved behind the southeast net. In addition, the club debuted a giant T-Shirt gun during halftime. Finally, new sponsors Tryon Medical Group and OrthoCarolina were on display, taking over from Novant Health to be the official healthcare sponsors of the team (OrthoCarolina had previously been the kit sponsor of the Ascent’s sibling club, the Independence).
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