The race for the Chatham County girls soccer golden boot is heating up with only a handful of games remaining in the regular season.
Entering this week’s games, the top goal-scorer in the county was Seaforth sophomore Caitlin Erman, who had netted 27 to go with six assists so far this spring. Erman had a one goal lead on Woods Charter freshman Amelia Cherry, who had 26 goals before Woods Charter’s 9-0 thrashing of Triangle Math & Science on Monday night.
In total, five Chatham County girls soccer players had at least 20 goals to their credit before this week’s games. On top of Erman and Cherry, Woods Charter junior Sienna Gray (25), Jordan-Matthews sophomore Jessica Parroquin (24) and Seaforth freshman Sofia Viana (23).
Viana — who is playing varsity soccer for the first time this season — also came into this week leading all county players with 18 assists. The next-closest player is Woods Charter junior Leyla Noronha, who had 14 assists before Monday night’s game.
All three teams — the Wolves, the Hawks and the Jets — should earn bids into their respective state playoffs once brackets are released on May 12. The Wolves were 14-1-2 overall ahead of their Wednesday night game against Clover Garden School. Head coach Graeme Stewart’s squad came into the week ranked as the No. 1 team in the 1A East by MaxPreps, meaning it should play at least its first few playoff games at home. The top team in the 1A West is Christ the King (9-2-2), which defeated the Wolves last season in the 1A state finals.
Woods Charter’s final regular season game is May 11 at home against Cornerstone Charter.
Seaforth also figures to be a high seed in the 2A tournament. The Hawks (12-5-1 overall) tied Williams on Monday night, 3-3, but they are in the driver’s seat in the Mid-Carolina Conference with an 8-0 record entering next Monday’s home game against Jordan-Matthews.
MaxPreps ranks Seaforth as the No. 7 team in the 2A east. Last season, the Hawks came into the 2A tournament as the No. 22 seed in the east region before falling to South Granville in the first round. The Hawks wrap up the regular season next Wednesday on the road at Bartlett Yancey.
Jordan-Matthews, meanwhile, is the No. 14 team right now in the 2A east region. The Jets came into Wednesday’s game at Cummings (game occurred after press time) with an 8-3-3 record, their lone losses coming to North Davidson, Seaforth and Woods Charter, who have a combined record of 36-9-6 this season.
Last spring, Jordan-Matthews went 13-4-3 overall under former head coach and current athletic director Josh Harris. The Jets lost in the second round of last season’s 2A tournament to Raleigh Charter, 3-0.
Jordan-Matthews’ final game of the regular season comes next Thursday at home against Southwestern Randolph.
Sports Editor Jeremy Vernon can be reached at jeremy@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @jbo_vernon.