Lake Norman Charter girls soccer wins second straight NCHSAA state title

Lake Norman Charter scored early in each half Saturday and blanked Eastern Alamance 2-0, winning the 3A girls’ soccer state championship.

It was the second straight state title for the Knights, who won as a 2A school a year ago.

The victory, achieved at WakeMed Soccer Complex in Cary, capped a sensational run by a core group of nine Lake Norman Charter seniors. Those players lost only three times in their three seasons (the 2020 campaign was canceled due to COVID).

And Saturday’s goals were scored by two of the Knights’ senior leaders, Eliza Rich and Haven Stanley.

The Knights followed a familiar script Saturday morning, scoring early.

Numerous times this season, Lake Norman Charter scored in the first few minutes of the match, and that was the case against Eastern Alamance.

With about five minutes gone in the first half, the Rich stole a pass, beat a defender, and then blasted a 10-foot line drive into the goal. Her shot went over the right shoulder of Eagles’ goalkeeper Karsyn Johnson.

It was the 60th goal of the season for Rich, one of several senior standouts on the Knights’ squad.

Rich actually had threatened in the match’s opening 15 seconds. She broke loose from the Eastern Alamance defense, but her shot from the left side was stopped.

But Rich’s early goal was all the Knights could muster in the opening 40 minutes.

They threatened in the 11th minute, but Haven Stanley’s header, on a pass from Rich, barely went over the goal. Less than a minute later, Rich blasted a shot from about 15 yards, but her effort went high.

Eastern Alamance defender Mackenzie Webber was a standout in the opening half, single-handedly shutting down several Lake Norman Charter scoring attempts.

Perhaps the Eagles’ best scoring chance came with about four minutes left in the half, but Lake Norman Charter goalkeeper Imani Anzaya caught Mary Widderich’s shot.

The Knights continued their domination in the early part of the second half, keeping pressure on the Eastern Alamance defense.

Once again, Lake Norman Charter scored in the opening minutes. Stanley took a pass from Rich and lofted a shot over the Eagles’ Johnson for a 2-0 lead.

Eastern Alamance began to assert itself about 15 minutes into the half.

Much of their attack was led by Widderich, who scored 28 goals during the season.

Widderich barely missed scoring in the 19th minute, and she broke free again six minutes later, but Anzani came out from goal, cut down the angle, and stopped the shot.

Rich’s last shot as a high school player nearly resulted in Lake Norman Charter’s third goal. She dribbled around the Eastern Alamance defense but was wide-right with a short shot in the final minute.

Saturday’s match marked Lake Norman Charter’s fourth consecutive appearance in a girls’ soccer state championship.

The Knights took the 2A title a year ago, beating Carrboro on penalty kicks.

Lake Norman Charter finished second in 2018 and 2019.

Eastern Alamance was making its first appearance in a girls’ soccer state title match since 1998, when the Eagles lost to High Point Central.

This story was originally published June 4, 2022 at 12:47 PM.