Carolina Ascent becomes first USL Super League team to clinch a playoff spot
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL (April 26, 2025) – Carolina Ascent became the first team to clinch a playoff spot Saturday night, defeating Fort Lauderdale FC 5-2 in a dominant performance for their 6th straight win.
Mia Corbin buried her league-leading 11th and 12th goals, Audrey Harding added a pair of her own, and Sarah Troccoli notched her third of the season in the victory.
The offenses came out firing as it was Ft. Lauderdale United that ended Carolina’s clean sheet streak within the first three minutes. #20 Kiera Locklear centered to #17 Jasmine Hamid who buried her 9th goal of the season, putting an end to Carolina’s Ascent historic shutout streak.
However, Carolina Ascent then went to work. It was a very quick response as Harding looped a beautiful cross to the back post in the 5th minute and Corbin headed home her league-leading 11th goal of the season to even the score.
Carolina Ascent took the lead in the 17th minute. Harding cut inside and scored a beauty, curling it into the top corner past the outstreched hands of Ft. Lauderdale goalkeeper #1 Cosette Morche.
After Morche made a fantastic kick save on #7 Jill Aguilera, Carolina Ascent made it three unanswered in the first half. Aguilera’s ensuing corner found the head of Troccoli, who nodded it past Morche for her 3rd goal this Spring in the 34th minute.
An excellent response to an early deficit resulted in a Carolina Ascent 3-1 lead at the half.
Carolina Ascent continued to control possession throughout the second half. Ft. Lauderdale had a golden chance to make it a one-goal game as #11 Sh’Nia Gordon missed a golden chance with Carolina goalkeeper #42 Samantha Leshnak Murphy out of position.
Harding added to her highlight reel night in the 77th minute. A carbon copy of her first goal, Harding cut inside and once again, curled one into the top corner to make it 4-1.
Four minutes later, #23 Riley Parker drove inside the box and was taken down from behind. Corbin stepped up to the spot and collected her second goal of the night to extend the lead to four.
In stoppage time, Ft. Lauderdale scored a consolation goal as #18 Addie McCain was left alone in the middle of the box and buried her team-leading 10th goal of the season.
Carolina Ascent becomes the first team in USL Super League history to clinch a spot in the league’s postseason. The three points extends Carolina Ascent’s first place lead in the league standings with three regular season games to play.
QUOTES:
Head Coach Philip Poole on the team clinching a playoff spot:
“It’s a group effort, it’s a team effort. You could see they were motivated and hungry to come to Fort Lauderdale tonight and put our best foot forward.”
Poole on his team falling behind, but responding quickly:
“The response was really good. I think we haven’t necessarily been great from coming from behind, we’ve tied a couple of games. We haven’t been necessarily great at turning those into wins so it’s another step forward in that department for sure.”
Audrey Harding on her two goals:
“With my two goals being similar, I had worked on that exact cut in and shot with my Coach Jack [Vundum] two days ago at training, so I told myself that’s what I’m gonna do if I get in the box!”
Jill Aguilera on the team heading to the playoffs:
“It’s really exciting to be the first team to clinch playoffs, our hard work has been paying off but we still have important games coming up and our intensity and high performance mindset does not change as we work toward winning the final games of the season. I’m so proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish so far, but our work isn’t done yet.”
