Possession and a potent attack carry Gaston Day to the verge of an NCISSA soccer title

Bad things happen to Gaston Day’s soccer opponents when the Spartans have the ball.

“I’m a possession type of guy,” Gaston Day head coach Greg Lekavich says. “And we have a pretty dynamic team this year.”

Add possession to a dynamic attack, and you get a Spartan team that is 16-2, has outscored opponents 104-17 and is playing Saturday for the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association 2A state championship.

Gaston Day, which won the 2A state crown in 2019 and has been a runner-up two other times in the past seven years, hosts Trinity Academy (16-2-1) of Raleigh at 4 p.m.

It’s Championship Saturday for the NCISAA, with titles being decided in soccer, volleyball, girls’ team tennis and field hockey.

And Gaston Day is Championship Central, with the Spartans hosting finals in soccer, volleyball and tennis.

“Yeah, it’s going to be a pretty hectic day around here,” Lekavich said.

The Spartans’ head coach says his 2019 state championship team was built around a talented group of about a half-dozen seniors. This year’s squad, he says, has more depth.

“We had some injuries down the stretch in 2019,” he says. “It seems as if we had just barely enough to see it all the way through.”

This year, he says, is different.

“We are far more dynamic,” he says. “We have guys who can beat you off the dribble, guys who can score.”

And nobody has scored more than junior striker Marco Wright. He has 44 goals this season and is the runaway scoring leader in the NCISAA.

“The goals come when I get an opportunity,” Wright says. “But I’m mainly focused on helping our team win. We’re focused on our next match.”

Lekavich isn’t afraid to try something new.

Most teams use a single-striker attack. Gaston Day uses two — Wright and his longtime buddy, junior Ben Spencer. Wright has nine assists to go with his 44 goals. Spencer has 23 goals and 17 assists.

“It’s really a 2-6-2 attack, and it seems strange,” Lekavich says. “But it works for us.”

What really works for the Spartans is a close bond among the players, say Lekavich and Wright.

“The kids just like each other,” their coach says. “Of all the pieces to our season, that might be the most important. They have a belief in each other.”

Wright says he, Spencer and senior defender Ethan Horky have played for several years on the same junior club team, in addition to their time together at Gaston Day.

“We grew up playing together, in club and school,” Wright says. “For Ben and I, it’s almost like we know what each other will do. When something happens, it’s like I’ve already seen the play ahead of time.”

And, opponents have discovered, it’s difficult to stop both strikers at one time.

Wright has scored four or more goals in five matches this season. But in the quarterfinals last Saturday, when the opponent focused on Wright, Spencer scored six goals. And it was Spencer who led the way, with two goals and an assist, in Gaston Day’s 5-1 romp over Fayetteville Academy in Tuesday’s semifinals.

“Ben had an amazing match last Saturday,” Wright says. “There are a lot of people on this team who will score if an opponent leaves them open.”

Lekavich says his team will have a tough time in Saturday’s final.

“Trinity Academy is really talented,” he says. “They are senior-laden and possession-oriented. They’ll want to keep possession of the ball.”

That, of course, is what Lekavich also wants his team to do. So look for the Spartan defense to press the Tigers on Saturday.

There’s another piece to the Gaston Day success story — senior goalkeeper Payne Fulghum.

He has nine shutouts this season and a 0.93 goals-allowed average.

“He’s come up huge for us this year,” Lekavich says. “It’s great to know that we have him there in goal.”

Here is a look at the rest of Championship Saturday for the NCISAA:

Soccer

Top-seeded Carmel Christian (15-1-1) faces second seed Rabun Gap (19-1-1) for the 4A title, with the teams playing at 2 p.m. at Charlotte Christian. It’s a rematch of last year’s championship, which Carmel Christian won 2-0.

And in 3A, seventh seed Concord Academy (16-6) travels to No. 4 Coastal Christian (12-9-1) at 3:30 p.m. for the title.

The 1A final has Sanford’s Grace Christian (15-5) visiting Greenfield School (13-5-1).

Volleyball

The 4A championship will be a Triangle-area match, with top-seeded North Raleigh Christian (26-2) hosting third-seed Durham Academy (17-3). Two Charlotte-area teams meet for the 2A crown, with fourth-seed Davidson Day (20-4) visiting top-seed Gaston Day (29-9).

Coastal Christian (31-2) hosts Asheville Christian (19-4) for the 3A title, and Albemarle School (15-3) visits Pungo Christian (19-3) for the 1A crown.

Girls’ tennis

Charlotte-area teams will win the 4A and 2A titles. In 4A, top-seeded Charlotte Latin (15-3) hosts No. 2 Charlotte Country Day (16-4). And in 2A, second seed Davidson Day (15-2) visits top seed Gaston Day (15-2).

Cape Fear Academy (13-2) travels to Arendell Parrott Academy (16-0) in 3A, and Greenfield School (11-7) visits Oakwood School (8-4) in 1A.

Field hockey

Second seed Charlotte Country Day (15-4) visits top-seeded Providence Day (18-3) at noon for the state championship. It’s a rematch of the 2020 title match, which Providence Day won 2-0.