Carolina Ascent start strong, but drop spring home opener after late collapse

Riley Parker woke up Saturday morning with a feeling she couldn’t shake.

“This morning I woke up and I kind of felt like I was going to score,” the Carolina Ascent FC forward said after Lexington SC’s 2-1 victory at American Legion Memorial Stadium. “It would have been much nicer to be walking away with the three points and the goal.”

The premonition came true in the 36th minute. Parker’s rocket from the left side sailed over goalkeeper Kat Asman’s head, her first goal since March 23, 2025. Mia Corbin created the chance with a crucial takeaway, quickly finding Parker, who finished with her left foot from distance.

That gave Carolina a 1-0 lead. Six minutes later, it was gone.

When everything unraveled

Goalkeeper Meagan McClelland’s misjudgment on a high pass into the box allowed Alyssa Bourgeois to equalize in the 43rd minute. Defender Sydney Studer had left the field for treatment moments earlier, leaving Carolina temporarily short.

“Horrendous game management in the 43rd minute,” coach Philip Poole said. “You want to go in 1-0 up. And we didn’t.”

Lexington controlled 64.2 percent of possession in the first half. That pressure yielded the equalizer and set up what came next.

McKenzie Weinert and Catherine Barry executed a simple give-and-go in the 52nd minute that caught Carolina’s backline sleeping. Weinert buried her shot into the near corner for what proved to be the winner.

“It was a turnover, two soft passes, another one, two missed tackles,” Poole said. “As a center-back, you can’t atone for two missed passes and a missed tackle.”

Two goals in less than 10 minutes spanning halftime flipped the script. Lexington claimed their first-ever win against Carolina and remained unbeaten in regulation since May 2025. It marked the first time Carolina allowed multiple goals since Oct. 4.

No spark when needed

Shea Groom made her first start since signing from the NWSL in late January, but the veteran wasn’t at full fitness. She lasted 60 minutes.

“Part of the deal when you sign a player like Shea, is they’re just coming off of their offseason,” Poole said. “You have to play her to get her fit. I don’t think she was great, but I don’t think you’re going to see that for another couple of weeks.”

Carolina’s offensive numbers told the story. Of their first nine shots, they accumulated just 0.67 expected goals, well below the pace needed.

Lily Nabet missed a great chance in the 69th minute from the middle of the box, her shot deflecting harmlessly. Ava Cook couldn’t get a shot off in the 77th minute before Lexington swarmed. Nabet nearly equalized in the 83rd minute, but her shot from the top of the box grazed the net and sailed over.

Looking inward

“I think we’re our own worst enemy right now,” Parker said. “We need to look inwards and clean up some things ourselves. I think we have the ability to do even better than we did last year. It’s just getting there.”

The slow start feels familiar. Last spring, Carolina struggled early before a six-game winning streak that included four shutouts and a 21-2 scoring margin.

“Yeah, last spring we kind of had a slow start. It’s definitely reminiscent of that,” Parker said. “Obviously we’d like to have a better ending to this spring than we did last spring.”

Nabet acknowledged the fixes needed are within reach.

“I think it’s just the mentality and bringing that energy,” she said. “When we’re on the pitch, we need to trust that we’re good football players and we can keep the ball. Be patient. I think sometimes we make it a bit more complicated than it needs to be.

”Poole’s assessment cut more terse: “I think it was a massively disjointed performance from us. We never really got anything going.”