The chase for first place resumes for Carolina Ascent 

CAROLINA ASCENT

Rylee Baisden has scored a team-high four goals for Carolina Ascent, who are third in the Gainbridge Super League table with 20 points as the season's second half kicks off.

Halfway through Gainbridge Super League’s second season, the Carolina Ascent sit exactly where they were at this point last season: in third place and looking for more. 
After a slow start, they found their mojo and ripped off a six-game win streak by which they will always be compared in terms of consistent excellence and dominance. It raised them to the Players’ Shield.

Can they do it again?

The first test couldn’t be harder as the Ascent will face league leaders Sporting JAX away on Saturday. The new GSL team this season, Sporting (7-3-4, 25 points) are undefeated in their last five matches with four wins in that run. Carolina (5-4-5, 20 points) went 2-2-1 in that same span. Kickoff is 5 p.m. and will be streamed on Peacock.

But six weeks off can change a lot of things. Three weeks between games last season proved enough to dull the blade of the Ascent after that six-game run. So form is yet to be determined as play begins.

Bolstering the squad

Since losing Maddie Mercado to the NWSL after she scored four goals in six games to start the season, Ascent coach Philip Poole has been looking for someone to fill the void and improve the conversion rate on chances created. 

Rylee Baisden is the active leading goal scorer, putting four in the net. Mackenzie George has three goals. Audrey Harding (now Coleman, after getting married in December) has two. Last year’s leading scorer, and second in the league with 12 goals, Mia Corbin, has just one tally so far, but has been playing primarily in central midfield. 

Only five players – Jill Aguilera, George, Baisden, Riley Parker, and Taylor Porter – have played in all 14 games so far this season, and only Aguilera and Porter started all of them. 

Over the past few weeks, Carolina announced three additions - Ava Cook, Shea Groom, and Lily Nabet - to the squad, all of whom bring considerable NWSL experience to Charlotte.

Cook, 27, brings size (5-foot-10) and four seasons with the Chicago Stars in NWSL but is coming back from a torn ACL that limited her time over the past season. She hasn’t been a big number scorer in NWSL but scored 76 goals in 80 games for Grand Valley State in college, so she knows where the net is. The scouting report says Cook can stretch defenses with her pace down the flank or in central areas, can bolster hold-up play, and connect late runs into the box

Groom, 32, won an NWSL championship with now-defunct FC Kansas City as a rookie in 2015 and last saw the pitch 31 times over two seasons with the Chicago Stars before signing with Carolina. Poole will look for deploy her as a link player, offering stability and creativity between defense and attack by controlling tempo in midfield.

Nabet, 26, a former Duke captain, adds leadership and strengthen the midfield After making 35 appearances for Angel City in the NWSL from 2022-25, she was loaned to Fort Lauderdale United in the GSL for the first half of this season. She should enhance Ascent’s ability to win the ball and transition quickly. 

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