‘We wanted it so bad.’ Ardrey Kell’s girls soccer champs are Observer’s team of the year
In four previous trips to the NC High School Athletic Association 4A state championship game, Ardrey Kell girls soccer team — the 2023 Charlotte Observer team of the year — scored one goal and suffered four heartbreaks.
The Knights lost in the 2008 final 3-0 to Raleigh’s Leesville Road and 1-0 to that same team in 2009. In 2011, Leesville Road again beat Ardrey Kell, winning 3-0.
Last season, the Knights outshot Raleigh’s Cardinal Gibbons 17-4 in regulation but went to overtime tied at 1, and eventually lost on penalty kicks.
With the bulk of that ‘22 team returning, Ardrey Kell was determined to break though this season — and they did.
The Knights won their first-ever girls soccer title, beating Wilmington Ashley 3-2 earlier this month. Ashley was ranked No. 3 in the nation at the time.
Ardrey Kell finished the season 25-3-1 and No. 14 in the MaxPreps national poll. The Knights, who won their last 14 games in a row, outscored opponents 136-15 for the year.
“The amount of work the girls did to build their own identity and to get back (to the state finals) and to finally win it,” Knights coach Kim Montgomery said. “C’mon, that was amazing.”
Montgomery, The Observer’s girls soccer coach of the year, coached her two daughters on the team. Carly Montgomery, an all-state defender heading to Texas to play next season, was one of seven seniors.
Madison Montgomery, a junior forward, was one of 14 underclassmen. And coach Montgomery played a lot of freshmen and sophomores for big minutes and big moments.
Forward Taylor Suarez is the 2022-23 Charlotte Observer girls athlete of the year.
All-state junior defender Ally Casey said the Knights were able to mix their experience and youth easily because everyone was focused on one thing: a ring.
“We wanted it so bad,” she said. “We knew last year we should’ve won, but we didn’t, and we were just so determined to win it all now.”
And they did.
