CHARLOTTE, NC (September 26, 2026) – Carolina Ascent and Sporting JAX battled to a thrilling 3-3 draw at American Legion Memorial Stadium on Saturday night in a six-goal spectacle.
The back-and-forth affair saw both sides take and surrender leads, with four goals coming in an action-packed second half. Carolina found the back of the net three times from set pieces, with Shea Groom, Jill Aguilera and Reese Tappan all getting on the scoresheet.
After both teams looked to establish their styles early, Sporting JAX broke the deadlock in the 20th minute. A Carolina turnover at midfield sent the dangerous Ashlyn Puerta racing toward the Ascent defense. Last season’s Most Valuable Player laid the ball off to Golden Boot leader Baylee DeSmit, who slotted a finish into the bottom corner to give the visitors the lead – ending Carolina’s streak of 305 consecutive minutes without conceding a goal.
After an uncharacteristicly sloppy first 35 minutes, Carolina found the equalizer against the run of play five minutes before the break. Mackenzie George won a corner, allowing Mia Corbin to perfectly find Groom for the second straight match to energize both the team and the crowd inside American Legion Memorial Stadium.
While Jacksonville controlled much of the play, Sydney Martinez commanded her penalty area throughout the first half, confidently rising above the crowd to claim multiple crosses and snuff out dangerous opportunities.
Carolina further established themselves as the set-piece queens of the Super League in stunning fashion in the 61st minute. After Lily Nabet drew a foul inside the center circle, Aguilera stepped up to play long into the box. Her flighted ball carried over Jacksonville defenders, surpassed the run of Jenna Butler, and found the back of the net for an unbelievable 45-yard go-ahead.
Jacksonville quickly erased the deficit and then retook the lead.
Carolina held their lead for 10 minutes before Sporting JAX tied the match. Sophie Jones found space and fired an excellent ball across the frame, sliding all the way to the back post for AJ Hennessey to blast in for her first professional goal.
Jacksonville earned a penalty in the 76th minute. DeSmit got on the end of a Jacksonville long ball and found herself one-on-one with Martinez. The forward was taken down from behind by Butler just as she was about to pull the trigger. DeSmit stepped up and buried into the bottom corner for her second goal of the night.
The back-and-forth affair continued as Carolina would not go quietly into the night. For the third time, the Ascent converted from a set piece. Aguilera put her free kick from the edge of the area on a platter to the back post, finding Tappan to one-time it home for her second of the campaign in the 83rd minute.
The onslaught from set pieces nearly led to a match winner in the 86th minute. Aguilera’s long ball deflected perfectly onto the foot of Ava Cook at point-blank range, but goalkeeper Kaitlyn Parks charged to make a game-saving denial.
It was a hard-fought point for the Ascent as they continue to hold the top spot in the Gainbridge Super League. The team will now enter a bye weekend before heading to Florida to face Tampa Bay Sun on October 10.
POST-GAME SOUND
Head Coach Philip Poole on how he saw the match:
“There is no denying the character, the fight and the willingness to just keep grinding from that group. I take my hat off to them. Unbelievable spirit. Up, down, come back, equalize. We had another chance at the end there to possibly win it. Wild.”
Poole on the importance of securing a point:
“That point will come back to pay off for us. That might be one of our best points of the season because I think for long spells we were really under the gun tonight.”
Jill Aguilera on the team’s fight back and moving forward from this one:
“The way that our team fought back into the game, we’ve always been really dangerous on set pieces, and to really execute those three in important moments, I think, is huge.
For us, we have a bye weekend next week, but we have some days to train. We’re going to continue to build on what we’ve been working on, get rid of those kinks and really look at what we could do better from this game. We’ll use that as a tool to move forward and get better.”
Reese Tappan on the dominance from set pieces:
“Whenever we get the opportunity to be in their box on set pieces, we really try to capitalize. Jill had a bunch of great services into the box. When we had a set piece that close, I was like, ‘Okay, I need to get to the ball first.’ When I saw it come to me, I was like, ‘I need to get this on target.'”
