Eight local teams chase third-round soccer berths

Seven second-round matchups feature an all-local showdown, two defending state champions and several opportunities for Neuse News Sports-area teams to extend their postseason runs.

South Lenoir has already made history. Greene Central wants to change the ending against a familiar postseason opponent. Goldsboro has a 50-goal scorer capable of making any favorite uncomfortable.

Across seven games Thursday, eight Neuse News Sports-area teams will try to turn promising seasons into something more.

The NCHSAA boys soccer second round includes South Lenoir AT Spring Creek, guaranteeing at least one local team a third-round berth. Jones Senior and C.B. Aycock begin their postseason runs at home, while Eastern Wayne, North Lenoir, Greene Central and Goldsboro face road tests.

Two of those trips lead to defending state champions. But November rewards the team on the field now, not the trophy it won a year ago.

No. 11 South Lenoir (14-8-1) AT No. 6 Spring Creek (14-7-1)

3A East | Thursday, 6:30 p.m.

South Lenoir’s breakthrough season gets a familiar challenge.

The Blue Devils earned the program’s first playoff victory with an 8-1 win over Northeastern, a result that also gave coach Jody Turner his 50th career victory. Now they visit a Spring Creek team that beat them 6-1 in September and ended their 2025 season with a 4-0 first-round loss.

Those results favor the Gators. South Lenoir’s recent improvement gives the rematch some intrigue.

The Blue Devils have won five of their last six, outscoring opponents 27-7. They have scored 81 goals this season, just one fewer than Spring Creek, although the Gators have allowed 43 compared with South Lenoir’s 55.

South Lenoir’s attack has several ways to produce. Senior Yeshua Perez-Gonzalez has 19 reported goals and 13 assists, junior Arael Resendiz has 17 goals, and senior Emilio Flores Salinas has 13 goals and 10 assists. Sophomore Daniel Salinas scored twice against Northeastern, while junior Jethro Gonzalez supplied three assists.

That production comes from a 21-player roster with only four seniors.

Spring Creek has a more experienced group, with seven seniors and nine juniors among its 25 listed players. Junior Bryan Esau Medina Rodriguez drives both the scoring and creation with 17 reported goals and 20 assists. Senior Erix Sosa Rodriguez has 16 goals, and sophomore Christopher Mulenga Miteu has 12.

The September meeting demonstrated that depth. John Cabrera and Mulenga Miteu scored twice each, while Medina Rodriguez had three assists. Spring Creek led 4-0 at halftime.

Common opponents also favor the Gators. Spring Creek went 4-1 against North Lenoir, Goldsboro, Clinton and East Duplin; South Lenoir went 1-4-1. Spring Creek swept Goldsboro 5-1 and 7-4, while South Lenoir lost to the Cougars 5-4.

South Lenoir’s best results include a 5-4 overtime win at East Duplin and a 3-1 victory at Washington. Its 2-1 loss to Heide Trask was encouraging after losing the first meeting 3-0. The Goldsboro loss and a later 3-1 home defeat against East Duplin show where consistency remains a concern.

Spring Creek’s strongest win was a 4-2 victory over North Pitt, the No. 2 seed in 4A East. The Gators also tied defending champion Wallace-Rose Hill 1-1. Their season-opening 2-1 loss to Roanoke Rapids was a stumble, but their most lopsided defeats came against powerful James Kenan and Clinton teams.

South Lenoir needs to make Spring Creek work for an early lead. Another first-half hole would put too much pressure on an otherwise capable attack.

Prediction: Spring Creek 3, South Lenoir 1.

No. 9 Bear Grass Charter (7-10-1) AT No. 8 Jones Senior (13-8-1)

1A East | Thursday, 6 p.m.

Jones Senior has two players with 26 reported goals. Bear Grass Charter has scored 29 as a team.

That is the clearest attacking contrast in a matchup that could still be much closer than the overall records suggest.

Junior Joseph Sanchez has 26 goals and 18 assists for Jones, while senior Kevin Sanchez has 26 goals and nine assists. Their production gives the Trojans two established threats against a Bear Grass team that has been shut out in eight of its 10 losses.

Jones has scored 80 goals and allowed 52, with a 3-0 forfeit included in those totals. Bear Grass has scored and allowed 29.

The roster contrast is just as noticeable. Jones lists seven seniors among 18 players. Bear Grass lists only one senior and nine freshmen among 14 players.

Senior Kagan Haltigan leads the Bears with nine reported goals, followed by junior Caine Latham with eight. Freshman goalkeeper Will Saunders has been credited with 331 saves in the posted statistics, an unusually high total that has not been independently audited.

Jones won the teams’ verified recent meetings, 4-1 in 2024 and 5-4 in 2023. They did not meet this regular season.

Against common opponent Southside, Bear Grass lost 1-0 and 2-1. Jones lost 3-1 before winning the rematch 4-1. Both teams defeated North East Carolina Prep and Washington Montessori.

That late Southside win, along with a 4-3 overtime victory at East Carteret, provides a good picture of Jones at its best. The Trojans have also been vulnerable, losing 7-0 to Lejeune and 7-1 to Southwest Onslow.

Bear Grass’ best win was 1-0 over Perquimans. More revealing might be its two 1-0 losses to No. 3 seed Cape Hatteras. The Bears have shown they can keep stronger opponents within reach.

Jones should have more opportunities to score, but patience matters. If the Trojans turn this into a game decided by one or two chances, Bear Grass has already shown it can survive that type of contest.

Prediction: Jones Senior 2, Bear Grass Charter 1.

No. 14 North Lenoir (8-8-5) AT No. 3 Carrboro (14-5-2)

4A East | Thursday, 6 p.m.

North Lenoir’s record looks ordinary until the location of its best results comes into focus.

The Hawks are 5-2-3 away from home, compared with 3-6-2 on their own field. They won at Eastern Wayne, Washington and North Johnston during the regular season.

That ability to travel gives them a chance against Carrboro, although the Jaguars bring a stronger defensive résumé and a senior-heavy roster.

Carrboro has scored 57 goals and allowed 21. North Lenoir has scored 45 and allowed 37.

The Hawks’ most important attacking number belongs to sophomore striker Brian Gomez, who has 22 reported goals, nearly half the team total. He scored the only goal in the first-round win over Bunn, with Jose Gonzalez assisting and goalkeeper Evan Smith making five saves.

Smith has 139 reported saves and five shutouts. Senior midfielder Marvin Sandoval has four goals and eight assists.

Carrboro lists 14 seniors among its 25 players. Manny Bastidas has 10 reported goals, Cristian Urquiza Mendoza and Alex Ramirez have eight each, and Brett Bromberger has nine assists.

The Jaguars won 10 consecutive games before finishing the regular season 1-2-1. That closing stretch included a 3-2 loss to NCSSM-Durham and a 2-0 loss to Seaforth, a team Carrboro had beaten 4-0 earlier.

North Lenoir also has results pointing in different directions. Its 4-2 win at Eastern Wayne and 3-2 loss at Spring Creek demonstrate its competitiveness. A season-opening 1-0 loss to a Southwest Onslow team that finished 3-15 was a missed opportunity.

Carrboro’s strongest wins include 4-0 at Seaforth and 3-2 at East Chapel Hill. Its 1-0 loss to Felton Grove was a less favorable result.

No common opponent appears on the teams’ reported 2026 schedules. Their verified playoff history favors Carrboro, which won 3-0 in both 2014 and 2018.

North Lenoir’s path is straightforward: stay organized, get another strong performance from Smith and give Gomez a chance to make the difference. Carrboro’s late-season inconsistency leaves an opening, but its defensive record makes it the favorite.

Prediction: Carrboro 2, North Lenoir 0.

No. 10 Eastern Wayne (12-5-1) AT No. 7 Southwestern Randolph (12-8-1)

4A East | Thursday, 6 p.m.

Eastern Wayne is visiting a defending state champion, but the Warriors are not facing the same team that finished 27-1 a year ago.

Southwestern Randolph graduated 13 seniors who accounted for 130 of its 160 goals during the 2025 championship season. First-year head coach Jeff Tyl has rebuilt around a younger group.

The Cougars remain dangerous. They have scored 85 goals, led by junior Gio Hernandez with 17 reported goals, junior Griffin Hall with 16 and senior Yael Rebollar-Ortiz with 14. Junior Holt Tyl has 17 assists.

An October report also identified a season-ending knee injury for Kevin Garcia, then the team’s leading scorer.

Eastern Wayne brings plenty of offense of its own. The Warriors have scored 87 goals, are 7-2 away from home and advanced with a 7-0 victory over Southwest Edgecombe.

Christ Yao and Ezekiel Roberson each scored three times in that first-round win. Posted season totals list Yao with 30 goals and seven assists and Roberson with 21 goals and 10 assists, although those figures have not been fully reconciled with the latest game.

Both teams have mixed-age rosters. Eastern Wayne lists five seniors among 22 players; Southwestern Randolph has six among 24.

The Warriors’ strongest results include wins at Goldsboro, Washington and North Lenoir. Southwestern Randolph’s 5-1 victory over a Montgomery Central team that finished the regular season 17-4-1 stands out as the stronger individual win.

Eastern Wayne played North Pitt to a 3-1 loss before falling 6-1 in the rematch. Southwestern Randolph lost a competitive 3-2 game to Jordan-Matthews, but also suffered an 8-1 defeat against Western Alamance and a concerning 2-1 loss to Eastern Randolph after winning the first meeting 6-0.

There are no shared 2026 opponents on the reported schedules.

Eastern Wayne has improved from 5-11-3 last season, and its two leading scorers give it a legitimate chance to extend that turnaround. Southwestern Randolph’s stronger schedule and home field provide a slight edge, but this should not be treated as a routine champion-versus-challenger matchup.

Prediction: Southwestern Randolph 3, Eastern Wayne 2.

No. 15 Greene Central (10-9-2) AT No. 2 Wallace-Rose Hill (18-5-1)

3A East | Thursday, kickoff unconfirmed

Greene Central has spent the second half of its season proving its start did not define it.

Now the Rams have an opportunity to deliver their biggest statement.

After opening 1-8-1, Greene Central went 9-1-1 over its next 11 reported results, including a forfeit win. Monday’s 3-2 victory over Louisburg earned another meeting with Wallace-Rose Hill, the team that ended Greene’s 2025 season in the quarterfinals.

The Bulldogs won that playoff meeting 2-0 and went on to claim the 3A championship. They also beat Greene 2-1 in August.

That one-goal result matters. Greene has already shown it can stay close to this opponent, even when the Rams were struggling to find wins.

Senior Angel Contreras has 13 reported goals and 11 assists, sophomore Diego Munguia has nine goals, and junior Sebastian Mendez has seven goals and 10 assists. Goalkeeper Giancarlo Diaz has 193 reported saves and made 13 against Louisburg.

Wallace-Rose Hill will test him. Sophomore Libni Estrada has 28 reported goals and nine assists, senior Cergio Acosta has 18 goals, and sophomore Wilmer Flores has 13 goals and eight assists.

The Bulldogs have scored 91 goals and allowed 34. They are unbeaten in 12 matches, have won eight straight and swept No. 1 seed James Kenan 3-1 and 4-3.

The common-opponent comparison also favors Wallace-Rose Hill. Greene lost 8-1 to Spring Creek; the Bulldogs tied the Gators 1-1 and beat them 3-1.

Greene’s most encouraging loss remains the August meeting with Wallace-Rose Hill. Its worst results were 9-0 defeats against North Pitt and New Bern. Wallace-Rose Hill’s largest loss was 4-0 to Laney, while a 3-2 loss to Richlands showed the Bulldogs can be challenged in a tight game.

There is no statistical case for calling Greene the favorite. The upset pick rests on the Rams’ improvement, the close first meeting and their ability to make this a lower-scoring match than Wallace-Rose Hill wants.

Greene needs Diaz to keep it within reach and Contreras to help turn a limited number of chances into goals. If the Rams are still level late, the pressure shifts toward the defending champions.

Prediction: Greene Central 2, Wallace-Rose Hill 1.

No. 14 Goldsboro (10-11) AT No. 3 NCSSM-Durham (17-3-1)

3A East | Thursday, 6 p.m.

Goldsboro has the player most capable of making this matchup uncomfortable for the favorite.

Sophomore striker Aiden Ramirez-Cruz has 50 reported goals and 10 assists. Four of those goals came in Monday’s 5-1 playoff win over Beddingfield.

The challenge is at the other end of the field.

Goldsboro has scored 80 goals and allowed 95. NCSSM-Durham has scored 78 and allowed only 19. Their scoring averages are nearly identical, but their defensive records are far apart.

NCSSM is 9-0-1 at home and has won 10 consecutive games. The Unicorns reached the regional final during a 20-2-2 season in 2025.

They also have a much older roster. All 24 listed players are juniors or seniors. Goldsboro has eight freshmen and seven sophomores among its 21 players.

Senior midfielder Tudor Tegean, an all-state selection last season, and senior striker Chris Hughes, an all-region selection, are established NCSSM returners. Reliable current individual scoring totals were not available.

Ramirez-Cruz has support from senior Trent Sheppard, who has 10 reported goals, and freshman Alex Krochta, who has 10 assists.

Goldsboro’s best wins include an 8-5 result at Eastern Wayne and a 5-4 victory over South Lenoir. Its 7-6 loss at Midway demonstrated how dangerous the Cougars can be in an open game, although a later 9-2 loss to Midway and a 9-0 defeat against Wallace-Rose Hill exposed the defensive risk.

NCSSM beat Carrboro 3-2 and Research Triangle 3-0. Its most concerning loss was 1-0 to Durham School of the Arts, which finished 6-11-3. No common 2026 opponent was found between NCSSM and Goldsboro.

The Cougars will need a defensive performance well above their season average. But Ramirez-Cruz gives them a reason to believe a small number of opportunities could be enough to keep the pressure on.

Expect Goldsboro to make the favorite work for it.

Prediction: NCSSM-Durham 3, Goldsboro 2.

No. 13 Southern Nash (11-11) AT No. 4 C.B. Aycock (12-6-3)

5A East | Thursday, kickoff unconfirmed

C.B. Aycock does not need a reminder that Southern Nash can win this game.

The Firebirds already did it once.

Southern Nash won 1-0 in September behind a Brayden Wells goal and 11 saves from freshman goalkeeper Landon Riley. Aycock answered with a 3-0 home victory in October.

The third meeting arrives with Aycock playing some of its best soccer.

The Golden Falcons are unbeaten in six, going 4-0-2 while outscoring opponents 14-3. They are 7-1-1 at home. Southern Nash is 2-6 away and advanced with a 2-1 win over Durham School of the Arts.

Aycock’s attack is balanced and relatively young. Junior Dennis Graham has nine reported goals, junior Adam Piwowarski and sophomore Morgan Barnes have eight each, and junior Adrien Summers has 10 assists. The 29-player roster includes only four seniors.

Southern Nash also has a freshman-heavy group. Junior Daniel Landa has nine reported goals and three assists, Wells has seven goals, and Riley has 97 saves and five credited shutouts.

Common opponents provide a strong argument for Aycock. Against Fike, Hunt, Northern Nash, Rocky Mount and Southern Wayne, the Golden Falcons went 6-1-3; Southern Nash went 4-6. Aycock was unbeaten against Fike, Hunt and Northern Nash, while the Firebirds went 1-5 against those three.

Aycock’s best wins include 3-0 over Richlands and 2-1 at Southeast Alamance. A 2-1 loss to James Kenan was competitive, while a 7-0 defeat at Middle Creek was its largest setback. The 2-1 loss to Southern Wayne was a more frustrating conference result.

Southern Nash’s best wins were over Aycock and Fike. It lost 2-1 to Hunt, but also fell 5-0 to Corinth Holders and 1-0 to Southern Wayne.

Recent postseason history favors Aycock. The Golden Falcons won all three meetings last year, including 6-2 in the second round, before finishing 23-1 after a regional-final loss.

Southern Nash’s upset formula is established: Riley keeps it close, the Firebirds finish a chance and Aycock has to chase. The Golden Falcons’ recent form suggests they are better equipped to prevent that this time.

Prediction: C.B. Aycock 2, Southern Nash 0.