It’s the “supreme 16” or “great eight” in the N.C. High School Athletic Association boys soccer playoffs, depending on your bracket.
Those are not the official names of these rounds, but “Sweet 16” and “Elite Eight” are taken and trademarked by the NCAA, so I’m trying something new.
I’ve done pretty good so far.
Before I get to my picks, let’s rank the five best games in the state tonight.
Ardrey Kell at Myers Park, 8A West — Ardrey Kell just had an incredible 7-6 win over Providence in overtime after finding themselves down repeatedly. Can they find a little magic one more time?Cuthbertson at West Cabarrus, 7A West — Cuthbertson is incredibly battle-tested and West Cabarrus has just one loss.Southern Durham at Chapel Hill, 7A East — Southern Durham won the conference but has to hit the road to face the Tigers.First Flight at Washington, 4A East — Arguably the best two teams in the 252 area code, but we’ve got a few more weeks of soccer left to hash that all out.Wake Prep at Midway, 3A East — Wake Prep burst onto the soccer scene by going to the 1A girls title game last year, is it the boys’ turn? Or will Midway, which has had some battles of its own, stand tall?
8AWest(4) Ardrey Kell @ (1) Myers Park — Myers Park(6) Hough @ (2) West Forsyth — West ForsythEast(4) Apex Friendship @ (1) Hoggard — Hoggard(3) Broughton @ (2) Laney — Broughton7AWest(9) R.J Reynolds @ (1) Marvin Ridge — Marvin Ridge(5) Porter Ridge @ (4) Grimsley — Porter Ridge(6) Cuthbertson @ (3) West Cabarrus — Cuthbertson(7) Hickory Ridge @ (2) Lake Norman — Lake NormanEast(8) Clayton @ (1) Heritage — Heritage(5) Southern Durham @ (4) Chapel Hill — Chapel Hill(11) Fuquay-Varina @ (3) New Hanover — New Hanover(10) Holly Springs @ (2) Ashley — Ashley6AWest(8) Alexander Central @ (1) A.C. Reynolds — A.C. Reynolds(5) Mount Tabor @ (4) Watauga — Mount Tabor(11) Northern Guilford @ (3) Asheville — Northern Guilford(10) Asheboro @ (2) Charlotte Catholic — Charlotte CatholicEast(9) Lee County @ (1) Middle Creek — Middle Creek(5) Franklinton @ (4) Gray’s Creek — Franklinton(6) Harnett Central @ (3) East Chapel Hill — East Chapel Hill(7) Northern Nash @ (2) Jacksonville — Jacksonville5AWest(8) North Forsyth @ (1) South Point — South Point(5) Concord @ (4) Enka — Concord(11) Atkins @ (3) Hickory — Hickory(10) North Lincoln @ (2) East Lincoln — East LincolnEast(9) Northside of Jacksonville @ (1) C.B. Aycock — C.B. Aycock(5) Orange @ (4) Montgomery Central — Orange(19) Croatan @ (11) Fike — Fike(7) Southeast Alamance @ (2) Western Alamance — Western Alamance4AWest(8) Burns @ (1) Newton-Conover — Newton-Conover(5) Lincoln Charter @ (4) Salisbury — Lincoln Charter(6) Brevard @ (3) Forbush — Brevard(7) Hibriten @ (2) Ashe County — HibritenEast(8) Jordan-Matthews @ (1) Southwestern Randolph — Southwestern Randolph(5) First Flight @ (4) Washington — First Flight(11) Roanoke Rapids @ (3) North Pitt — North Pitt(10) Carrboro @ (2) Clinton — Clinton3AWest(9) West Caldwell @ (1) Polk County — Polk County(13) Hendersonville @ (5) Patton — Patton(6) Owen @ (3) Piedmont Community — Owen(7) Lincolnton @ (2) Pine Lake Prep — Pine Lake PrepEast(8) Northwood @ (1) NCSSM-Durham — NCSSM-Durham(5) Wake Prep @ (4) Midway — Wake Prep(6) Princeton @ (3) Greene Central — Greene Central(7) Trinity @ (2) Wallace-Rose Hill — Wallace-Rose Hill2AWest(8) Bradford Prep @ (1) Elkin — Bradford Prep(5) C.S. of Davidson @ (4) Mountain Island Charter — C.S. of Davidson(6) Murphy @ (3) Gray Stone Day — Gray Stone Day(7) Bishop McGuinness @ (2) Highland Tech — Bishop McGuinnessEast(8) TMSA-Triangle @ (1) Manteo — Manteo(12) Voyager @ (4) Holmes — Voyager(14) East Wake Academy @ (6) Research Triangle — Research Triangle(7) Raleigh Charter @ (2) Franklin Academy — Franklin Academy1AWest(9) Jackson Day @ (1) Thomas Jefferson — Thomas Jefferson(5) Summit Charter @ (4) TMSA-Triad — TMSA-Triad(6) NCSSM-Morganton @ (3) N.C. Leadership Academy — N.C. Leadership Academy(7) Bethany Community @ (2) Clover Garden — Clover GardenEast(8) North East Carolina Prep @ (1) Excelsior Classical — Excelsior Classical(5) Woods Charter @ (4) Cape Hatteras — Woods Charter(6) Oxford Prep @ (3) Falls Lake — Falls Lake(7) Vance Charter @ (2) Sallie B. Howard — Vance Charter
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