Carolina Ascent FC Win Inaugural Regular Season Championship
Samantha’s Stunning Save Secures the Super League Shield
For the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, one of Charlotte’s professional sports teams has won a regular season championship.
The Carolina Ascent secured the inaugural USL Super League Players’ Shield last night with a draw over second place Tampa Bay Sun. With it comes home field advantage in the two round cup playoff, which starts on June 8 at American Legion Memorial Stadium.
While both the Carolina Lightnin’ and the Charlotte Eagles brought soccer championships to the Queen City over the years, Charlotte’s last professional regular season championship was earned by the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League in 2019; the team went on to win the Calder Cup Playoffs. The last top-division regular season championship went to the 15-1 Carolina Panthers in the 2015 Season; they would lose Super Bowl 50 to the Denver Broncos.
Most important, however, is that Ascent have won the first top-tier women’s professional championship in the region’s history.
“I think the first step is claiming the regular season,” said Ascent head coach Philip Poole, “So I’m proud of the players, proud of the owner, proud of the staff, proud of the front office, everyone plays their part. So that’s been huge for us. But I said it before, to bring the home playoff game back here to Charlotte, to the fans, it has been good to us and the supporters have been there for us since day one. It’s been great.”
After the match, the team participated in a trophy ceremony, and then took countless pictures with their new hardware. The octagonal Players’ Shield - with eight sides to represent the inaugural eight teams in the league - was covered in fingerprints by the end of the night.
Carolina Ascent FC vs. Tampa Bay Sun FC
Saturday, May 17
7:00 PM EDT
American Legion Memorial Stadium
Charlotte, NC
Final Score: 1-1
Carolina Ascent FC Goals
Eli Hutchinson 2’ (Assist: Aguilera)
Tampa Bay Sun FC Goals
Cecilie Fløe Nielsen 23’
Soccer Sheet’s Player of the Match
Jill Aguilera
After scoring a goal in the first two minutes of play, all Carolina Ascent FC had to do was hold on - but a penalty kick awarded to Tampa Bay in the second half created some doubt as to whether or not the Ascent would be able to clinch first place at home.
Going into the match, all the Ascent needed was a point to secure first place: a win would be great, but a draw would get the job done.
However, the stakes were high for this particular match as the second place Tampa Bay Sun owned the first tiebreaker over the Ascent. If the two teams finished with the same amount of points at the end of the season - only possible if the Ascent lost - then the Sun would win the regular season championship due to having three wins over the Ascent in regular season play.
As it stands, Tampa Bay is the only team the Ascent haven’t beat this season.
The match started out on a strong note for the Ascent, with left back Jill Aguilera racing down to the back line, finding striker Eli Hutchinson in the area for a second minute goal.
The assist put Aguilera alone in first place for the league’s assist record with 7.
It would be Tampa Bay’s last costly mistake of the match, and from that point on the visitors would run a high press, applying consistent pressure to the Ascent until Danish striker Cecilie Fløe took advantage of a poor free kick from Ascent goalkeeper Samantha Leshnak Murphy to equalize.
Murphy took the kick from the top of the penalty box, but instead of reaching a teammate it fell to Fløe, who dribbled into the final third and beat the Ascent’s back line to set up an easy shot.
The goal brought Fløe’s total to 10, tying for third place in the Golden Boot race behind the Ascent’s Mia Corbin.
There must be something about the Tampa Bay, since they’re the only team in the league that causes the otherwise brilliant Murphy to make unforced errors. The Ascent’s last loss came in Tampa Bay on March 15 due to one costly defensive play between Murphy and the back line.
Murphy, however, would prove her quality in the second half, as she became the hero by preventing a goal with a foul, and then saving the subsequent penalty.
Tampa Bay’s Gabby Provenzano came off the bench in the 49th minute to replace striker Hannah Keane, and in the 64th minute she made one of the best plays of the match, with a parabolic pass out of traffic that found teammate Jade Moore on the break.
Moore had Carolina’s back line beat, and cut to the left as Murphy met her at the corner of the goal box. Murphy’s arm missed the ball, but tripped up Moore’s leg, preventing a likely goal.
After the first official pointed to the penalty spot and showed Murphy a yellow card for denial of a goal scoring opportunity, Tampa Bay Sun’s Carlee Giammona lined up to take the penalty.
Giammona, with 7 goals on the season, had the opportunity to clinch the playoffs for the Sun, and chose to send the ball to her left. It stayed on the ground but close to center, and Murphy guessed correctly, diving to her right and saving the penalty with her outstretched right glove.
“Well, I created the PK. So, I took a moment, because I knew I had a good chance to save it,” said Murphy. “We’ve been working on it for a while. I’ve got a number of things in the routine, and so I ate the yellow card in the process. And then, I got one moment to make a decision and I think I timed it well enough.”
From there, the teams continued the battle, but the result seemed destined to be a stalemate. Audrey Harding and Aguilera kept up the pressure for the Ascent, with the latter challenging Tampa Bay goalkeeper Sydney Schneider to make an incredible save near the end of regulation.
The way both teams played Saturday night, it’s easy to envision a rematch for the cup in a couple weeks if Tampa Bay is able to secure a playoff spot.
All of the Ascent’s playoff matches will be at home in Charlotte, and the team could not be happier.
“It’s such a huge advantage, but I think it’s something that we’ve worked really hard towards since the beginning of July when we started working towards this,” said Ascent captain Taylor Porter. “So we’re really, really excited and super stoked for the fans to come out and support us.”
As it stands, however, the Ascent proved this season that lightning can strike twice, as a pro soccer championship trophy has finally returned to American Legion Memorial Stadium.
Player of the Match: Jill Aguilera
With her assist, Jill Aguilera took the lead in the race for the USL Super League’s “Golden Playmaker” award - but she was our player of the match for applying consistent pressure to Tampa Bay, with two of the Ascent’s four shots on target, including one that would have been the go-ahead goal if not for a heroic save. She also won multiple free kicks for the home team.
The Ascent named Samantha Leshnak Murphy as their player of the match, and it’s hard to argue with a penalty save.
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