Charlotte Catholic beats Middle Creek to win its eighth NCHSAA soccer title
Eighty minutes wasn’t enough to decide a winner between the Charlotte Catholic and Middle Creek boys’ soccer teams in the NCHSAA 6A state championship Saturday night at Guilford College, as the Cougars and Mustangs were deadlocked at one apiece through two halves.
Two scoreless 10-minute overtime periods and a pair of 5-minute sudden death sessions followed, which sent the title game to PKs.
Tied at three penalties apiece with a chance to win it, Charlotte Catholic junior Emmett Drensek stepped into the box, placed the ball on the stripe and took a deep breath. To the tune of the official’s whistle, Drensek sprinted up to the ball and blasted it by the diving Middle Creek keeper Connor Leitch and into the net.
Drensek’s score gave the Cougars a 4-3 advantage in PKs, cementing Charlotte Catholic as the 2025 6A champs under the lights at Appenzeller Field. It was Catholic’s first state title in 17 years.
“This group bonded real quickly,” Cougars head coach Gary Hoilett said. “We found our style, found our rhythm and found how we wanted to play real quickly in the season. It’s not like we went through the season and change our lineup a couple of games to figure it out. It started clicking real early. Not just on the field, our personalities and everything came together.”
The dramatic win definitely didn’t come easy for Charlotte Catholic. For the first time all tournament, it trailed at halftime.
With just under two minutes to go in the first half, Middle Creek midfielder Evan Chestnutt handled the ball 15 yards outside the box. He put a move on his defender and launched a shot toward the goal. Cougars goalie Aiden Turton dived to slap it away, but it ricocheted right to Mustangs forward Holden Adams, who booted in the game’s first goal.
Middle Creek stayed in front all the way inside 10 minutes remaining in the second half, but a foul on the Mustangs that was called in the box awarded Charlotte Catholic a penalty kick. Junior captain Braden Mathis stepped up and converted to tie it up.
Both teams continued to test each other’s mental and physical fortitude as the game went the distance.
In PKs, Middle Creek shot first. Brady Flanigan, Chestnutt and Sterling McGregor cashed in their attempts for the Mustangs; Sean Lynds, Mathis and Brady Benton scored for Charlotte Catholic. Turton denied Adams on the Mustangs’ fifth and final attempt.
That set the stage for Drensek, who calmly delivered his clutch kick through the piercing screams of the Middle Creek faithful.
“I had full confidence in him,” Mathis said. “I have full confidence in every single one of my teammates. No matter who it was, I believe they would score. We’ve been practicing PKs, that builds up confidence every time. So he stepped up and he put it away.
“And Aiden’s save, he’s been a great keeper throughout the year. He had injury problems at the beginning of the year, but he bounced back for playoffs, and he’s really helped take us to where we are. That save just shows how important he is to us.”
Under head coach Steve Lindsay, who took over three years ago, Middle Creek has continued to ascend as a premier program in North Carolina. This season, the Mustangs won a remarkable 24 games and went a perfect 10-0 in the Triangle Six Conference.
Despite Saturday’s loss, this season was yet another stepping stone for Lindsay and his staff for what they’re building at Middle Creek.
“It was a hard-fought match,” Lindsay said. “We will certainly tip our cap to [Charlotte Catholic]. But I just couldn’t be any more proud of the young men that have given so much to this program at Middle Creek really over the last three years, but certainly this year.
“[We had] a team that was loaded with seniors that really came together as a family, unlike anything I’ve ever witnessed in all my years of sports. I couldn’t love these kids any more. … To see them hurting is hard.”
Three who made a difference
Braden Mathis, Charlotte Catholic — Three shots on goal, several crossbars hit and success on each of his two penalty kicks was plenty for the Cougars junior to earn MVP of the state final. Mathis buried the equalizer from the PK stripe with just under 10 minutes to go in regulation before coming through again as Charlotte Catholic’s third penalty taker in PKs.
Aiden Turton, Charlotte Catholic — Middle Creek certainly had its chances in each of the four overtime sessions, but Turton closed the door on all of them. He made a handful of lunging saves throughout the game, none bigger than his stop in PKs against the Mustangs’ Holden Adams to set up Emmett Drensek’s winner.
Sterling McGregor, Middle Creek — The senior midfielder played the entirety of Saturday’s 110-minute marathon. McGregor put forth five shots (two on goal) while constantly generating positive plays both offensively and defensively for the Mustangs. He also converted his PK to put Middle Creek ahead 3-2 at the time.
They said it
It didn’t take much time for Charlotte Catholic head coach Gary Hoilett to let his players know what he expected from them this season. Way back in August he told his team that 2025 was state championship or bust.
The Cougars understood what that meant — that Hoilett believed they had enough talent and chemistry to win it all — and used that as motivation throughout every practice and game during the year. It all paid off Saturday.
“One thing I preached the entire year was about sacrifices that need to be made,” Hoilett said. “I’m going to be honest, I did not hide behind it this year. I laid it out to them and said, ‘This team needs to be in the state finals. This team needs to win.’
“And it was a constant. We were building for it in training sessions and in games. This is what [we] were being built for. This group of boys absolutely bought into how we needed to be individually and collectively in order to be successful.”
SCORING SUMMARY
CHARLOTTE CATHOLIC 0 1 (4) — 1
MIDDLE CREEK 1 0 (3) — 1
First Half
MC—Holden Adams from Evan Chestnutt, 39th minute
Second Half
CC—Braden Mathis (PK), 71st minute
Penalty Kicks
MC—Brady Flanigan
MC—Evan Chestnutt
CC—Sean Lynds
CC—Braden Mathis
MC—Sterling McGregor
CC—Brady Benton
CC—Emmett Drensek (GW)
This story was originally published November 22, 2025 at 8:55 PM.