Vike Girls Soccer Advances to 2nd round

Carly Lively scored twice in Union Pines' 2-1 win over Northern Nash Tuesday at Woodrow Wilhoit Stadium. The Vikings advance to the second round of the NCHSAA 3A state soccer playoffs with the win.

With the victory Union Pines (19-1) ran its current win streak to 19.

Early on in the opening round postseason tilt, the visiting Fighting Knights (10-8-2, Big East four-seed) were the more aggressive squad as they controlled possession and out shot Union Pines 3-1 in the first seven minutes of action, but failed to score.

Lively and freshman Hannah Kiser then worked together to change the complexion of the contest.

The Viking forward tandem rushed the box on a breaker, resulting in a score by Lively in the 16th minute on an assist from Kiser.

The goal gave Union Pines some much needed momentum, as Northern Nash was back on its heels for the remainder of the first half.

By intermission, Union Pines had out shot the Knights to the tune of 10-3. While the Vikes put six of their first-half attempts on goal they still lead only 1-0 margin as play moved to the second half.

Union Pines wasted little time taking total control of the game in the second stanza. The Vikings dominated possession of the ball in the closing half, not allowing Northern Nash to get off a shot until the 67th minute.

In contrast, the Vikings sent a total of 12 shots attempts at goal in the second stanza, with nine sent on target. Lively got her second goal of the game in the 76th minute, when she slammed home a volley with her right foot off a Madi Kramer corner kick.

 The junior captain's second goal put the Vikes up 2-0 with 3:20 left to play.  Lively now has 18 goals and a 18 assists on the season.

Kramer has a team-high 21 goals, along with eight assists, while Kiser has 15 goals.

On the night, Union Pines outshot the Knights 22 to 6.

Northern Nash did manage to find the back of the net with 1:07 remaining in the game on a goal resulting from a corner kick, bringing the final margin to 2-1.

The Fighting Knights' much heralded Ally Glover, who has signed a national letter of intent to play goalkeeper for East Carolina University, had a great game in goal Tuesday.

On the night Glover had 13 saves and boomed the ball with power and accuracy up field on her punts and goal kicks.

The Cape Fear Valley Conference champion Vikings will host a second-round playoff match against Wednesday's opening round winner featuring Orange (10-8, Carolina third-seed) at Western Alamance (15-4-2, Mid-State two-seed).

The time and date for the Vikings' second round playoff match at Woodrow Wilhoit stadium has yet to be determined.