In a Chatham County girls’ soccer showdown between Seaforth and Woods Charter, the Hawks made a statement while also making history.
Seaforth, ranked No. 5 in the 2A East RPI standings at the time of play, beat Woods Charter, the No. 1 team in the 1A East RPI standings, 4-0, on April 16 at home. That was the first time Seaforth won a game against Woods Charter in program history, losing to the Wolves, 3-2, in 2022 and having the opposite in 2024 with a 4-0 loss.
“Last year we were actually a very good team,” head coach Giovanni Viana said. “We were just young. We started eight freshman last year, and we saw how physical the game was. We just couldn’t match Woods Charter physically. This year we knew we would be able to match physically but more so technically.”
Coming into this year’s game, Viana wanted his team to combat the Wolves’ physical play with speed and movement.
“I told my players to two touch soccer as much as possible,” Viana said. “They’re a big team, so we make those big bodies run by moving the ball quickly, making them turn from side to side.”
To start the game, both teams defended each other well, keeping play at or near midfield for most of the first half. Seaforth did a good job running back and limiting Woods Charter’s scoring opportunities, but the Wolves’ on-ball pressure and defensive rotations on the other end made it hard for the Hawks to get much going.
But as Seaforth continued to pass the ball around and move Woods Charter’s defenders, opportunities at the goal began to open up later in the first half. Junior Caitlin Erman got behind the Wolves and scored at the 24 minute mark, but she was offsides and the goal was called back. Although it wasn’t the result Seaforth wanted, it was a sign of more to come.
The Hawks controlled most of the possession in the final minutes of the first half, and at the 11:38 mark, sophomore Sydney Nezos put in a shot from way beyond the penalty arc to give Seaforth a 1-0 lead.
“I just wanted to get the first one on there,” Nezos said. “I really just (thought) getting one would help more get across and maybe we’d get up and boost the team morale up.”
Woods Charter came close to evening the score before halftime, but a chance for a close shot by senior Leyla Noronha was stopped right in front of the goal as Seaforth’s Carsyn Ward ran down and poked the ball away from behind with under a minute left.
Coming out of halftime, though, the game was all Seaforth.
Just 31 seconds into the second half, Erman once again ran out behind Woods Charter’s defense and collected a pass way beyond midfield near the sideline. Erman gathered herself and found sophomore Regan Willauer running down the field, who then passed to a cutting Sofia Viana who scored to give the Hawks a 2-0 lead.
From there, Seaforth kept the Wolves on their heels as they tried to get back into the game, but the Hawks kept most of the possession. Sophomore goalkeeper Katie Leonard only made two saves the whole game, a testament of how in control the Hawks were.
At the 28:09 mark, Viana got fouled, and on a free kick, she gave Seaforth a 3-0 advantage with her 28th goal of the year. She turned to hype the Seaforth crowd as her teammates swarmed her to celebrate, and she secured her seventh multi-goal game this season.
“I was kind of nervous to be honest,” Viana said. “I just talked myself through it, and I was like, ‘I’ve been practicing these for so long just like any other shot.’ I just focused on my technique and tuned everything else out.”
Seaforth slowed down the pace a bit and held off any last efforts by the Wolves to come back. With just a minute left in the game, Erman, with the ball, outraced a Woods Charter defender down the field and scored from close range to put the icing on the cake.
The Hawks came away with their 10th win of the season and more proof that the young team made up of mostly freshmen and sophomores is a force to be reckoned with this year.
“It shows we’ve gotten so much better,” Viana said. “To go from the loss we had last year to beating (Woods Charter) by four this year, it shows how much better we are as a team. It’s really going to pay off in the long run and in the playoffs this year. We really think we can go all the way.”
