CHARLOTTE, NC (June 8, 2025) – A 120th minute goal was the ultimate difference as Fort Lauderdale United defeated Carolina Ascent 2-1 in the USL Super League semifinals in heartbreaking fashion Sunday night .
#20 Kiara Locklear scored both Fort Lauderdale goals while #15 Kathrynn Gonzalez netted the lone score for Carolina Ascent.
Carolina Ascent had the first try of the match in the 4th minute. #23 Riley Parker beat two Fort Lauderdale defenders down the sideline and set up #17 Eli Hutchinson. Hutchinson’s curling try just went over the bar.
Fort Lauderdale found success over the top. #17 Jasmine Hamid got on the end of a through ball in the 9th minute and was in 1-on-1 with #42 Samantha Leshnak Murphy. However, Leshnak Murphy stood tall and made herself big, denying Hamid.
The visitors got in behind again in the 17th and 22nd minutes. Locklear whistled one wide of Leshnak Murphy’s net on the first chance. Hamid had the second opportunity, but center back #12 Sydney Studer tracked back beautifully, getting her foot on it before Hamid could pull the trigger.
Carolina Ascent’s best chance of the first half came in the 42nd minute. Golden Playmaker winner #7 Jill Aguilera found Parker on the edge of the area. Parker swiftly turned onto her left for a strike, but Fort Lauderdale goalkeeper #1 Cosette Morsche tipped it over the bar.
Both teams headed to the half with their season at stake ahead.
Carolina Ascent started the second half with some real urgency.
Immediately, Aguilera got in behind. Her cross was thwarted by Morsche and half-time substitute #10 Rylee Baisden’s follow-up skimmed the outside of the net.
The pressure paid off in the 55th minute. Aguilera found Baisden, who furthered it onto Gonzalez. Gonzalez proceeded to score a worldie, striking one into the top corner from 20 yards out, sending American Legion Memorial Stadium into a frenzy.
Fort Lauderdale United found the equalizer 14 minutes later, amidst a bit of controversy. The ball went out for a throw-in, but neither team knew who it went out off. Without any indication from the officials, the visitors threw it in and played on.
#11 Sh’Nia Gordon played it over the top to Locklear, who beat Leshnak Murphy to tie it. A furious Philip Poole was issued a yellow card and the home crowd voiced their displeasure to the referees.
Fort Lauderdale finished the half the stronger team, playing with confidence after scoring. They continued to find success on the flanks. However, they could not connect on any of their dangerous crosses.
Gonzalez had one final opportunity in the 90 minutes for Carolina Ascent. The forward attempted three shots in rapid succession, but each were denied by Fort Lauderdale defenders and finally cleared. Those chances were the last of the 90 minutes and both teams geared up for extra time.
Only one strong chance was created in the first half of extra time. #18 Audrey Harding switched the ball into the path of #13 Addisyn Merrick. The outside back tried crossing, but it turned into a shot that floated just over the crossbar and onto the roof of the net.
Fort Lauderdale had the better of the chances in the second 15 minutes.
#9 Jorian Baucom fired at Leshnak Murphy’s near post from a sharp angle, but the goalkeeper got a strong left hand to it.
Locklear thought she had her second of the night to clinch it in the 116th minute, finding a loose ball and finishing off a corner. However, it was brought back for offsides.
Fort Lauderdale did find the game-winner in the final minute of extra time. Carolina Ascent played a high line on a set piece for the visitors. After the first ball was dealt with, a looped ball back over the top found Locklear. The forward put it past Leshnak Murphy, stunning the supporters.
The Carolina Ascent crowd and sideline waited for the assistant referee’s flag to go up for an apparent offsides, but it never did.
The goal proved to be the dagger to the season as Fort Lauderdale advances to Saturday’s final against Tampa Bay Sun FC.
QUOTES:
Head Coach Philip Poole on his team’s achievements this season:
“Our players put themselves in a position to compete for the regular season shield, which they won, and put themselves in position to compete for the championship in the playoffs, and that’s what we set out to do. It’s phenomenal that we’ve led the league in attendance. So, you know, we talk about our football goals, we talk about our community and crowd goals and organization as a whole. But still, it is broad, the game happened 20 minutes ago, and bitterly disappointed with the outcome.”
Poole on the team and support growing throughout the season:
“We go back two or three weeks when we played Tampa Bay here and won the shield. We had the PGA [Championship] in town. [Charlotte] FC played at the same time, NASCAR all-star was here, and we had 6,500 in the building. So I look at that and go, was it 10,000? No. Did we sell out? No. But it gives us hope for the future. To say when we put a good product on for our fans and for the city, people will jump on it. And I think people are starting to see that and feel that. So that’s probably my biggest takeaway is a lot of optimism for the future. We’ve definitely instilled the winning culture and a winning team. I can’t wait to get going again. That’s just who I am.”
Captain Taylor Porter on the tight call at the end:
“We have to stay really mentally focused when we’re that physically fatigued, when it’s that 120th minute. We can’t always count on the refs to help us.”
