Girls Soccer: Holly Springs downs East Chapel Hill in 4A second round, 2-1
The Holly Springs Golden Hawks beat the East Chapel Hill Wildcats at home on Thursday in the second round of the 4A girls soccer state playoffs.
The Golden Hawks turned in a great defensive performance to come up with a 2-1 victory over their challengers from Orange County.
The Wildcats controlled possession in the opening minutes of the first half before the Golden Hawks started to gradually take more control until they were creating all of the game's scoring opportunities.
Holly Springs finally broke through off of a free kick when Sydney Cummings sent a ball into the box that Ashlynn Kuhla headed to the fair side of the net and past the goalkeeper for a 1-0 lead.
The Wildcats found a good chance to tie the game 10 minutes later with a well-placed free kick, but Holly Springs goalkeeper Sam Michael made a leaping save to her right to preserve her team's lead.
The Wildcats eventually broke through, though, as Emilie Cook got a piece of a corner kick that floated over Michael's reach and into the net to tie the game.
That was the score at halftime, as neither team found a go-ahead goal in the final minutes of the half.
Holly Springs wasted little time recapturing its lead in the second half as a spectacular individual effort by sophomore midfielder Elise Robinson saw her send home a rocket after a great run to make it 2-1 Golden Hawks.
East Chapel Hill got a golden opportunity to tie the game in the final minutes with a penalty, but Michael came up with a big save to deter the chance and secure the win for her team.
East Chapel Hill's season comes to an end with a record of 17-4-1. The Wildcats finished in third place in the DAC-VII conference and defeated Jack Britt in the first round to advance to the second.
Holly Springs follows up its first round win over Purnell Swett with this win over East Chapel Hill, and the Golden Hawks will take on the winner of the second round matchups between conference rivals Heritage and Rolesville.
