Closing time: Carolina Ascent aim to seal in consistency 

CAROLINA ASCENT

Mia Corbin and her Carolina Ascent mates will try to nail down a second straight win Friday against Lexington SC.

It took the Carolina Ascent three draws and two losses to get the win they needed. 

Now we’ll see where that takes them with three games on the road, starting Friday in Lexington, Kentucky. The Ascent won’t be back at home for a month, with matches on both coasts, in Brooklyn (Oct. 18) and Spokane (Nov. 1). 

It’s a rush hour start time against Lexington SC with a 6 p.m. kickoff that will be streamed on Peacock.

The takeaways from last week’s win against DC Power were how the team started, and more importantly, how they finished.

When Mackenzie George scored 14 minutes into the match, and Maddie Mercado doubled the lead two minutes later, there was an immediate flashback to the dominant six-game run the Ascent put together last spring. Both goals were the result of the full-pitch pressure and tenacity in winning the ball back, a trait witnessed so often last season. 

“Honestly, Audrey (Harding) did the work,” George said. “She put it in the box, and I was just there to tap it in. I honestly had a feeling before the game (that) we're gonna get one together. And we did, so it was exciting. But that was all her. I just tapped it in.”

It was George’s third goal in the last two matches, and the rebound of her shot after Audrey Harding won the ball that fell to Mercado, who scored her fourth goal of the season with a left-footed strike from 20 yards out to the bottom right corner.

While the good news is that the Ascent are second in the league, scoring more goals than last season (12), the bad news is that they’re also second in goals conceded (13), far more than last year. The team that had three clean sheets in the first five games last season has none through six matches.

Ten minutes before halftime, a heavy touch from consistently reliable centerback Sydney Studer about 12 yards across midfield in the Carolina half out allowed DC’s Dasia Torbert to get past her and onto the ball. McClelland did well to come off her line to clear, but her kick rebounded off Studer and back into the goal. 

Five minutes into the second half, DC equalized off a corner kick when the Ascent defense failed to defend aggressively, giving Madison Murnin an uncontested header that she hit just inside the near post.

For a while, it felt like Carolina would be fortunate to get another draw, but the attitude is better summed up by the goal they scored in the 84th minute to get their first win. 

Right back Brianna Martinez had to leave the match in the 80th minute after having the wind knocked out of her in a collision with McClelland while defending a cross into the box. She reentered after play commenced and found herself alone on the right touchline at midfield. Immediately in the moment, she called for the ball and then pushed forward, sending the ball ahead to George, who took it to the endline before crossing it to the upper 90 of the near post. 

Goalkeeper Morgan Aquino was able to paw it against the crossbar. Alyssa Walker, who subbed on in the 75th minute, was there to crash the goal, heading it across the line for the game-winner. 

“As a (center forward), it's just about being in the right place at the right time,” said Walker. “It's actually the wingers and the midfielders that do the work to get it in there. But feeling wise, it feels great. It always feels good to win.”

The Ascent closed out the game, which included 10 minutes of added time, to take the win.

“There's two moments that probably typify what we needed to do,” coach Philip Poole said. “Alyssa Walker smashes herself into the post to score, and then Jill Aguilera puts it on the line in the 100th minute to clear one, and takes a pretty nasty hit because of it. And those are the things that we've been missing. So, yeah, I’m happy with the result.”

He knows there is still work to be done and Lexington will be the next chance to measure where they are. He doesn’t believe that there has been a trade-off with their accelerated scoring and the more porous defense. 

“Nope. A bit of an error from Sydney on the first goal, just a straight error, and they capitalize. And even Megan comes up with a big block. It bounces off her, hits (Sydney), and rolls in painfully slowly, and then a set-piece goal; it's just not us, you know. Clearly, we've got to do more work on it. So, two goals out of kind of nowhere, and after those goals, DC get a bit of momentum.”

“There were some good parts. I think one-nil, two-nil, should have been three, four. I think that's the next evolution, right? We've been ahead in three of the six games. Missed a penalty against Spokane, so it should have been four, but let's call it three of the six. And now it's like, can we now go two and three and four (goals) and just be ruthless?”
New and improved Lexington

In four games last season, Carolina ruled the series with two wins and two draws. But this is a different Lexington. Yet to taste defeat, they stand second in the Gainbridge Super League on 10 points from two wins and four draws, level with Spokane and Dallas but ahead on goal differential, which is still the first tiebreaker. Fort Lauderdale tops the table with 12 points (3-3-0). The Ascent’s win over DC doubled their point total to six and pushed them from eighth to sixth place on goal differential.

The biggest additions to the Kentucky club were luring the Super League MVP Emina Ekic away from Spokane, and Addie McCain, who had 10 goals last season, up from Fort Lauderdale. Ekic has one goal and two assists in six matches, while McCain has three goals and one assist. 

Leading the charge has been Super League newcomer Catherine Barry, who joined from the NWSL Chicago Stars. Her four goals have come in just two of the six matches played, with braces against Brooklyn and Dallas. 
In that Dallas match on Sept. 26, Lexington showed what their offense is capable of, putting six in the net.

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