DURHAM – Jacksonville coach Amanda Pelch smiled as she perhaps stated it best about the Cardinals’ finishing as the girls’ soccer state runner-up this season.
“It’s not the color of the plaque that we wanted to go home with, but I told them they absolutely have something to be proud of,” she said, “They battled all year. There’s nothing that you can say as a coach to make the hurt go away after a game like this, but all of the coaches, fans and staff, everybody, is proud of them and behind them. They accomplished something big. Even if it’s not the biggest thing that we wanted, it’s still something to go home and be proud of.”
The Cardinals’ sixth-year coach made those comments following Jacksonville’s 1-0 defeat to Charlotte Catholic on Friday in the NCHSAA 6-A championship game at Durham County Memorial Stadium.
The Cardinals (17-4-2) were in the state title game for the second time in three years and the third overall. They hoped to bring home another title after they won the 3-A championship in 2024.
But on this day, it wasn’t meant to be.
“Just being here alone is an accomplishment,” Jacksonville senior defender Caidy Nelson said. “I’m just so proud that we’re even here. It means so much, especially, knowing that some of the girls really had to step up. We have a junior goalkeeper who never started on varsity, and she really stepped up to the plate today. We have freshmen in the back line, and these girls have just really stepped it up.
“I’m just proud of what we have accomplished, how far we’ve gotten, and just how we played throughout the season.”
Junior forward Caroline Doyle agreed.
“We’ve grown so much over the season,” she said. “I loved watching it.”
Junior Savanna Leckner was named the final’s Most Valuable Player after she scored the lone goal with 29 minutes, 26 seconds left in the first half. The Cougars (24-0-1) also held Jacksonville to one shot on goal, a 25-yard attempt by Ryder Perry with 5:40 remaining in the game.
And while the result tilted in the Cougars, the Cardinals never quit. Junior goalkeeper Hailey Dufore also stood out by making seven saves and producing other goal-saving plays.
“They battle for each other, and that’s probably the coolest thing about them, just how much they’re willing to do for each other every day,” Pelch said. “It’s been our mentality for the whole playoffs. We were down at J.H. Rose, and we battled back real quick. So it was kind of the same mentality going in that we don’t quit. We know we have flight until the end and that’s not something that we had to install. That’s just the type of people that they are.”
On the other side, Charlotte Catholic celebrated its fourth state title and first since 2011. The Cougars also won titles in 2002 and 2003 and played in the state final in 2012.
“It was taxing for both teams, and I thought that played a part in the quality of football,” Charlotte Catholic coach Gary Hoilett said. “But I thought we were able to show more of our quality for the entire range in this game.”
It was the Cougars’ day on this warm afternoon, but that doesn’t take away the achievements Jacksonville seniors Ava Stephens, Riley Morrow, Carley Coxe, Sienna Corless, Nelson and Perry earned in four years.
Nelson was also recognized before the final with the NCHSAA’s sportsmanship award.
“The coaches would remember all of their wonderful personalities throughout the year. They’re really an awesome group of kids,” Pelch said. “It’s really sad to see some of them go. We are losing something huge with these seniors, not just their ability on the field, but everything. And it’s something that our other classmen look up to a whole lot.”
Chris Miller can be contacted via email at cmiller@jdnews.com. Follow him on X @jdnsports.