Chapel Hill’s men’s varsity soccer team lost a quarterfinal home playoff game to Walter M. Williams High on Saturday, November 16, 1-0, denying the Tigers what would have been their third state title in a row.
The loss came after the varsity team defeated A.C. Reynolds high school 2-0 in 2017, and Marvin Ridge high school 1-0 in 2018, winning both years’ state championship titles.
In spite of the loss, head coach Jason Curtis emphasized the team’s successes from the regular season.
“Winning the conference championship, beating East twice and advancing to the fourth-round of the state playoffs—while still short of our ultimate goal—is still a fantastic accomplishment for these players and these seniors,” he said. “They are 89-15-3 in four years, with two state titles, one runner-up, three regional and three conference championships.”
Senior varsity player Jack Ciocca shared similar sentiments.
“The season felt good, as we had better records than we did in past years,” he said. “The letdown in playoffs was just so surreal—seeing as we won both titles [the past two years], it was unreal that we lost, but I think the program will continue to be successful for years to come.”