Carolina Ascent Wins Again, Denies Sporting JAX Players' Shield
GSL Carolina Ascent FC

Carolina Ascent Wins Again, Denies Sporting JAX Players' Shield

Published on May 16, 2026 under Gainbridge Super League (GSL)
Carolina Ascent FC News Release


CHARLOTTE, NC - Carolina Ascent denied Sporting Jax the Players' Shield on the regular season's final night, winning 3-1 on home soil.

After going down early, the Ascent bounced back with three unanswered goals to make it six wins in a row and taking their unbeaten run to 11 games, tying the club record. With Lexington earning the Players' Shield by way of Sporting JAX's loss, Carolina and Jacksonville will face off in the league semi-final this coming weekend, squaring off on Sunday, May 24 at 5:00 PM.

Shea Groom got Carolina on the board first before Tyler Lussi followed suit later in the first half. Jill Aguilera added her fourth of the season directly from the corner flag in the second stanza.

In front of a packed American Legion Memorial Stadium, the game did not start how Carolina envisioned. The visitors from Florida opened the scoring early, neatly through the attack before finding Sophie Jones unmarked at the back post, where she calmly finished past Sydney Martinez in the seventh minute.

The Ascent responded quickly. In the 16th minute, Groom won possession in midfield, drove forward with purpose, and unleashed a low strike into the bottom corner to ignite the home crowd with her first goal of the season.

The Ascent kept pushing forward, pinning Jacksonville deep in its own half. Continuing Carolina's recent run of danger from set pieces, Mia Corbin delivered a pinpoint corner kick onto the head of Meaghan Nally, but the center back's attempt drifted just off target.

Carolina found a second unanswered goal in the 36th minute through a flowing attacking move. Mackenzie George and Groom combined brilliantly on a give-and-go before George burst into space and beat her defender. Her shot took a deflection off a Jacksonville player and fell perfectly for Tyler Lussi, who calmly tapped home her second goal in as many matches.

Chaos erupted in front of the Carolina net in the 40th minute. Sydney Martinez first denied Paige Kenton with a sprawling save, then came up big again seconds later on Kenton's rebound attempt before Jenna Butler cleared the danger off the line to preserve the lead.

Sporting JAX nearly found an equalizer with the final kick of the first half. Ashlyn Puerta and Meg Hughes combined down the wing before Hughes slipped a pass to Baylee DeSmit alone at the penalty spot, but the forward pushed her effort wide of the target.

After narrowly avoiding a second yellow card early in the second half, Boyan almost doubled her tally moments later. The midfielder cut onto her favored left foot and looked to curl another effort into Martinez's bottom corner, but her shot drifted just outside the post.

Jacksonville goalkeeper Kaitlyn Parks delivered her biggest stop of the night in the 67th minute. Following a recycled free kick, George floated a header back across goal where Riley Parker charged onto it, but Parks came off her line aggressively to punch the close-range header away.

Carolina doubled its advantage in the 75th minute in spectacular fashion. Aguilera whipped an in-swinging corner toward goal that glanced off the fingertips of Parks and curled directly into the net for a stunning olimpico for a critical insurance goal.

The Ascent continued to pour on the pressure late. Shortly after entering the match, Taylor Porter delivered a dangerous corner that Butler met in the air, rising above the defense only to see her header clang off the post.

Carolina saw the game out, finishing the regular season with 51 points, more than their Players' Shield-winning season last campaign. Clinching the third spot in the standings, the rematch is set for next Sunday in Jacksonville.

POST-GAME SOUND

Head Coach Philip Poole on the night:

"Another good result, another three points, and another great crowd at American Legion Memorial Stadium. I'm really proud of the organization tonight because, even though I don't get involved much with what goes on before the game or at halftime, I could feel the energy in the stadium. There was excitement, noise, and a really fun atmosphere. It was a strong finish to the season, and we ended with more points than we had last year when we won it."

Poole on the rematch upcoming in the playoffs:

"I think it's just one of those weird situations you see in any league or competition when you play a team back-to-back. Someone adjusts, someone figures something out. They'll go back and look at some of the things we did to them tonight, and we'll do the same with what they did to us. You always wish you had another opponent in between, but it's playoff time, so you just roll into the next one."

Groom on another match with Sporting JAX next weekend:

"I think we match up well with them. Honestly, I still don't think we've played our best soccer yet, which is exciting because there's still room to improve. There were moments tonight where we could've been cleaner, and we'll look to sharpen those up before the next match."

Aguilera on her olimpico goal:

"Honestly, no. But we work a lot on set pieces, and we're very good at them. Other teams know they have to account for our dangerous players in the box, and if we can create confusion or distract defenders, we'll take advantage of that. I didn't necessarily mean to score directly from it, but a goal's a goal and I'll take it."

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