At 14, Hough girls soccer star Ashlynn Serepca on national radar

Hough High soccer star Ashlynn Serepca was in fifth grade when the Huskies upset the nation’s top-ranked high school team to win a surprise state championship in 2012.

Now a freshman at Hough, Serepca hopes to help get the Huskies back to a fourth straight state championship game May 30 – and then she’ll have to hustle out of town. She’s been invited to the U.S. Under 16 national team training camp in Portland, Ore., May 30-June 6. It’ll be the third national team training camp Serepca, 14, has attended since February. She was one of 24 players invited to the most recent camp, held outside San Diego, in early April.

All of the players in camp are age-eligible for the FIFA U17 women’s world cup in 2016. Serepca’s age group is also on pace to be in a selection pool for the FIFA Under 20 Women’s World Cup in 2020.

“It’s been an unbelievable experience for me,” Serepca said of her national training, “to be surrounded by girls who are amazing and to be in an environment where you really have to push yourself. It’s a moment when you realize you’re blessed. I couldn’t believe it, the first time I put on the U.S. National Team crest; that’s something you can’t forget.”

Serepca went to Hough from Davidson Day, where she skipped seventh grade and played varsity as an eighth-grader in 2014. She switched to Hough, her geographic home school, for high school because she wanted to play for a strong team. And Hough has a strong team.

The Huskies are reigning N.C. 4A state champions and have won two of the past three championships. Hough can make history this year and become the first Mecklenburg County 4A girls team to repeat as state champions. Hough, ranked No. 4 in the N.C. 4A coaches poll, can also become the first 4A team from the county to make four straight finals appearances.

Serepca leads the Huskies in scoring with 22 goals after Friday’s game with West Charlotte, and she leads the team in assists, at 17.

“Ashlynn is very good,” said Hough coach David Smith. “She’s fit right in and works extremely hard and plays very intelligently for a freshman. She’s very strong on and off the ball to be so young.”

Smith said Clemson has watched Serepca play this season and said she has visited Duke, Florida State and North Carolina.

“She’s definitely on the national radar,” he said.

Smith said having Serepca has helped his team through what’s been a tough season. He expected to return five starters from the 2014 state champs, but senior Maddie Domico severely injured her knee in Hough’s first game. She’s out for the season. Another expected key player, defensive back Emma Cangalosi, suffered a concussion in the third game of the year. She’s out of the season, too.

Smith said Hough has only had two players play in every game. And still the Huskies (17-1-2, 12-0 MECKA 8) have won another conference title and have their minds set on history with another state championship.

There’s plenty of firepower. Besides Serepca, Hough has three other double figure scorers: Denny (18 goals), Emmily Cowie (16 goals, seven assists) and Anna Roach (13 goals, six assists). Goalie Stephanie Westaway – who played JV as a freshman when Hough had a senior All-America, Marnie Merritt, in net – is a sophomore who has committed to Clemson.

“It’s been an injury-filled season, but we have talent. We don’t expect anybody to feel sorry for us,” Smith said.

Not with players like Serepca, who trains five or six days per week for 90 minutes, often driving one hour to south Charlotte with her father to work out with her club coach.

Smith thinks Serepca’s strongest attributes are her strength and speed. Serepca thinks it’s her work ethic.

“I have high training habits,” she said. “I love to work hard. I love pushing myself and I know I want to be my best.”

That hard work has helped her earn the national invitations. She also hopes it helps her and her teammates win a state championship later this month.

“The girls, we’re all so communicative, and we all have the same goal,” she said. “We want to win that state championship, and seeing the girls who have won it before and how hard they’ve pushed me is amazing. It’s just amazing to be a part of this.”

This story was originally published May 2, 2015 at 5:26 PM with the headline "At 14, Hough girls soccer star Ashlynn Serepca on national radar."