Soccer, Softball Roundup: Lake Norman Charter, Union Academy soccer return to state finals

Lake Norman Charter and Monroe Union Academy are headed back to the girls’ state soccer championships, with Union Academy facing a rematch.

Lake Norman Charter won the 2A Western Region title Tuesday night by trouncing previously undefeated Hendersonville 6-2.

Union Academy took the 1A Western Region crown with a 1-0 victory over the tournament’s Cinderella team, Mount Holly Mountain Island Charter.

Lake Norman Charter, which lost 6-1 to Kill Devil Hills First Flight in last year’s 2A finals, will face Carrboro on Saturday for the state crown.

Union Academy, which beat Wake Forest Franklin Academy 6-1 for the 2018 1A crown, will meet Franklin Academy again this year. Both teams are undefeated, with Union Academy at 22-0 and Franklin Academy at 23-0.

Girls’ soccer

Lake Norman Charter 6, Hendersonville 2: The Knights (23-1) were tied 1-1 at halftime with host Hendersonville (23-1-1) but broke away with a big second-half surge.

Junior midfielder Kasey Hahn scored the go-ahead goal with about 30 minutes remaining, giving the Knights a 3-2 lead, then added a cushion goal for a 4-2 lead with 13 minutes remaining.

Hendersonville eliminated Lake Norman Charter in the 2017 playoffs.

Union Academy 1, Mount Holly Mountain Island Charter 0: Mountain Island Charter had a 9-8-1 regular-season record but caught fire in the playoffs, winning four in a row. The Raptors gave Union Academy (22-0) plenty of trouble Tuesday night, but Cardinals’ goalkeeper Chiara Coppin made five saves and logged a shutout.

Union Academy scored in the second half, with Sarah Brown getting the

Girls’ softball

Mooresville 10, South Caldwell 1: The Blue Devils took the opening game in the 4A Western Regional best-of-3 finals. Macy Martin smacked a three-run home run in the fifth inning, after Mooresville had scored five runs in the second. South Caldwell (21-4) had a brief 1-0 lead when Regan Weisner scored on an error in the first inning.

Mooresville (27-3) got two hits apiece from Ellie Goins and Olivia Marshall.

Game 2 in the series is at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at South Caldwell. Mooresville is trying to qualify both its baseball and softball teams in the state title series.

Central Cabarrus 6, Marvin Ridge 5: The Vikings took a 1-0 lead in the 3A Western Regional best-of-3 series, rallying for a home-field victory. Marvin Ridge (19-4) built a 4-1 lead after four innings, but Central Cabarrus (25-3) battled back.

Destiny Thornton drove in three runs, and Lacie Coubal had a pair of RBI’s. Aniyah Tate had two hits for Central Cabarrus.

Ally Bigham went 3-for-4 with two RBI for Marvin Ridge.

Game 2 in the series is at 6 p.m. Thursday at Marvin Ridge.

West Stanly 6, Franklin 5, 8 innings: The host Colts remained undefeated (25-0) by taking this see-saw contest. Franklin (23-3) had taken a 4-2 lead with a pair of two-run home runs in the top of the fourth inning, but West Stanly battled back, taking a 5-4 lead on Meredith Harward’s three-run home run.

Heather Freeman’s RBI double for Franklin tied the game 5-5 in the seventh. West Stanly won the contest in the bottom of the eighth on senior catcher Rosalyn McRae’s RBI walk-off single.

Game 2 in the series is set for 7 p.m. Thursday in Franklin.

Steve Lyttle on Twitter: @slyttle