American Legion Memorial Stadium was filled with a crowd draped in many different colors for Carolina Ascent FC’s inaugural game.
Some young fans and soccer players wore the kits of their own local youth soccer clubs. Others sported the jerseys of the other professional soccer clubs in the city, such as Charlotte FC and the Charlotte Independence. Many might not have gotten a chance to buy the kit of the Queen City’s newest women’s soccer club yet.
Like the Ascent’s home jersey itself, a sold-out crowd of 10,553 wasn’t dressed in one uniform color Saturday. But when a Carolina set piece halfway through the first half threatened goal, they all stood up.
A long free kick was redirected and fell to the feet of Cornelius native Vicky Bruce, who scored from close range. A raucous crowd roared as Bruce registered the first goal in the history of the club and the USL Super League.
Bruce’s historic tally lifted the Ascent to a 1-0 win over DC Power FC in Charlotte and helped the Queen City’s newest soccer club — its first professional women’s sports team since the WNBA’s Charlotte Sting folded in 2007 — deliver on its debut.
“We’ve talked from Day One about having a connection to our community and our people,” head coach Phillip Poole said. “How our city repaid us tonight is phenomenal. So I’m proud and happy we can give them three points and get off to a good start, and we’ll move forward from here.”
Poole handed starts to three native Carolinians — Ashlynn Serepca and Bruce of Cornelius, North Carolina, and Renée Guion of Simpsonville, South Carolina. Two of them played crucial roles in the Ascent’s historic opening goal.
Guion whipped a free kick into the penalty box that found the head of Annika Creel, who headed it back across goal. The ball landed at the feet of Bruce — who was named player of the match — and the central defender forced it over the line to open the scoring in the 27th minute.
“I was just so thrilled to be here and I just wanted us to win as a team and to get the result for the fans, and then to be able to do that like at my home turf — the feeling’s unmatched,” Bruce said.
Guion’s set piece deliveries continued to cause trouble. The Ascent nearly doubled its lead early in the second half after Audrey Harding headed a Guion corner kick toward goal, but DC Power FC goalkeeper Morgan Aquino made a save on the goal line.
North Carolina natives Josie Studer and B Hylton made cameos off the bench as the Ascent remained in control for the rest of the game. While Carolina couldn’t double its lead, Poole was largely happy with his team’s performance and a clean sheet in its inaugural game.
“We were very disciplined defensively,” Poole said. “It took us a little while to get going. We had some problems that we had to solve, and we solved them pretty early in the game with some things that DC were taking away from us.”
Carolina hosts Lexington SC at 2:30 p.m. Aug. 25. The Ascent will hope to use the momentum Saturday’s memorable debut generated as it aims to hit the lofty goals set for this inaugural season.
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