CARY — Senior midfielder Kyle Tawney scored in the 77th minute to lift Carrboro to a 2-1 triumph over Cuthbertson on Saturday evening in the North Carolina High School Athletic Association state 2-A women’s soccer championship game at Dail Soccer Field.

The championship was a rematch of last year’s final in which Cuthbertson prevailed on penalty kicks, but Tawney’s goal proved to be the difference this time.

The Jaguars’ game-winner came off a corner kick as Anna Gachechiladze served it from the corner and Tawney, the Carolina 12 Conference Player of the Year, headed it in beautifully.

Tawney was the championship Most Valuable Player.

Carrboro got off to a blistering start, jumping to a 1-0 advantage in the game’s first three minutes when sophomore forward Caroline Houser found the back of the next with Kenza Araba getting the assist.

Six minutes before halftime, Cuthbertson came back to knot the contest at 1-1 on a goal by senior captain Alex Duty.

Both Carrboro and Cuthbertson, relatively new schools, have established strong soccer traditions quickly, playing in the state final for the second straight year. Cuthbertson is a school in only its third year of operation, while Carrboro opened in 2007. 

Carrboro, in winning its first NCHSAA women’s soccer title, closed the season with a 20-1-1 mark with its only defeat a regular-season loss to rival Chapel Hill. The Jaguars outscored their opponents 28-4 in their six-game playoff march to the title. Cuthbertson finished at 20-5-1 overall.

The Raleigh Sports Consortium serves as the primary host city partner for the women’s soccer championship, along with the Raleigh Convention and Visitors Bureau. 

NORTH CAROLINA HIGH SCHOOL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION

STATE 2-A WOMEN’S SOCCER CHAMPIONSHIP

Dail Soccer Field, N.C. State University

      

Carrboro         1         1 — 2

Waxhaw Cuthbertson 1         0 –1

SCORING

3rd minute Carr–Caroline Houser (Kenza Aruba)

34th minute Cuth–Alex Duty

77th minute Carr–Kylie Tawney (Anna Gachechiladze)