GIRLS SOCCER

Woods Charter wins, Seaforth loses in 3rd round

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There’s only one Chatham County team remaining in the girls soccer state playoffs: Woods Charter.

The Wolves were victorious in the third round of the 1A tournament on Monday, 9-0, at home against North Moore. Woods Charter will play at home Thursday in the fourth round against Vance Charter.

Head coach Graeme Stewart’s team entered the 1A playoffs as the No. 1 seed in the east region. The Wolves finished the regular season with a record of 16-1-3, their lone loss coming to Franklin Academy, 1-0, back on April 11. Last spring, Woods Charter lost in the 1A state championship game to Christ the King, 3-0.

Before Monday’s game, Woods Charter’s top scorer this season was freshman Amelia Cherry (37 goals), while juniors Sienna Gray and Leyla Noronha have combined for 56 goals and 38 assists so far this spring. The Wolves have averaged over 6.6 goals per game this season while allowing less than one per game to their opponents.

Also competing on Monday night was Seaforth, which lost in the third round of the 2A state playoffs on the road at Raleigh Charter, 4-2. The Hawks made the tournament as the No. 7 team in the east region and won their first two games against Midway and Heide Trask by a combined margin of 12-1.

Head coach Giovanni Viana’s team finishes the season with an overall record of 17-6-1. The Hawks won the Mid-Carolina Conference regular season title with a perfect league record of 10-0 and averaged 4.6 goals per game this season.

Leading the way offensively for Seaforth this season were freshman Sofia Viana (31 goals, 25 assists) and sophomore Caitlin Erman (30 goals, six assists). Freshman Regan Willauer (12 goals, 11 assists) was one of two Hawks along with Viana to tally 10+ goals and assists.

In net, freshman Katie Leonard totaled 111 saves in her first varsity season, the most of any county player this spring.

The 2023 season was a dramatic improvement from Seaforth’s first varsity season last spring, when the Hawks went 11-8 overall and 7-3 in the Mid-Carolina Conference. Last season, Seaforth lost in the first round of the 2A tournament to South Granville.

The Hawks will have the opportunity to continue to build on this success in 2024, as they have no seniors on their current roster. 

Sports Editor Jeremy Vernon can be reached at jeremy@chathamnr.com or on Twitter at @jbo_vernon.