Myers Park soccer dominates Ardrey Kell, heads to NCHSAA semifinals

Coaches are known for being creatures of habit.

Especially when you’re a top-seeded team hosting a playoff game against a county rival.

Well, imagine Myers Park boys’ soccer coach Bucky McCarley’s thoughts when he saw snow flurries falling at his home stadium in the minutes leading up to Monday’s 6 p.m. kickoff of a Western N.C. Class 8A semifinal against Ardrey Kell.

“I couldn’t believe it,” McCarley said. “I didn’t see that in the forecast anywhere.

“One of the reasons that there’s coach speak of ‘be prepared for anything,’ is because you never know what will happen. So tonight, when something as random as snow flurries before the game happens, I’m thinking, ‘This is another thing that could distract us.’ But it didn’t.”

Unfazed by the weather, the Mustangs scored twice in the first half, including a goal in the fourth minute, on their way to a 6-1 victory.

Aidan Wilson (2 goals, 2 assists), Conner Greene (1 goal, 1 assist), Chase Brading (1 goal), Jon Luca Brady (1 goal), Femi Ogunwale (1 goal), Burke Anderson (1 assist), Alex Galloway (1 assist) and Willem Lutz (1 goal) accounted for the scoring for Myers Park (18-1), which moves on to host No. 2-seeded West Forsyth (19-2-2) at 7 p.m. Thursday .

West Forsyth advanced by knocking off Hough 1-0; Hough is the lone team to defeat Myers Park when the Huskies edged the Mustangs 4-3 in overtime on Sept. 17.

Note: The 8A regional winners in the east and west will not play on Nov. 18, when the other seven classes play regional finals. The state qualifiers in 8A will play in finals on Nov. 20-22, when other classes conclude. The 8A field is smaller than the others.

Three who made a difference

Aidan Wilson, Myers Park: Wilson’s cross from the right side of the field to fellow senior Femi Ogunwale 5 yards from the net was converted into the game’s first goal with 35:44 left in the opening half. Wilson would add one more assist and two goals.

Jason Hahn, Myers Park: Junior goalkeeper blocked a penalty kick attempt by Ardrey Kell’s Matthew Kulyak after he had been fouled with 32:16 left in the opening half.

Matthew Kulyak, Ardrey Kell: The Knights’ senior forward finished the season with 35 goals, including the game-winner in the Knights’ 2-1 overtime victory over South Mecklenburg last week in a second round playoff game.

Notable

— The 8A regional winners in the east and west will not play on Nov. 18, when the other seven classes play regional finals. The state qualifiers in 8A will play in finals on Nov. 20-22, when other classes conclude. The 8A field is smaller than the others.— Since the NCHSAA took over the boys’ soccer playoffs in 1977, Myers Park is 7-6 in Western finals games, most recently winning in the 2020-21 spring season whose schedule was altered by the COVID-19 pandemic.

— Myers Park is one of seven Mecklenburg County schools to have won a state boys soccer title. The Mustangs won in 2008. Other winners? Charlotte Catholic (7), Providence (3), South Mecklenburg (3), East Mecklenburg (2), Christ the King (2) and Independence (1).

— Myers Park’s appearance in the 2025 Class 8A Western final means at least one Mecklenburg County team has advanced to the regional in the state’s highest classification 30 times in the past 31 seasons; Only in 2019 was Mecklenburg County shut out of the regional finals.

They said it

“Only one step. There’s no two steps. We’ll enjoy this and realize that on Thursday we have one really, really important game. If we want that other stuff, the only we way we can get there is winning the next game. So we’ve got to get completely locked in on what’s next.” — Myers Park coach Bucky McCarley when asked about being two steps away from a state championship.

This story was originally published November 10, 2025 at 10:59 PM.