The Falcons pounded Wilmington Ashley 6-1 in the first round on May 7 and then blasted Lumberton 8-0 on Friday.

“You always hope you’re going in playing your best, and they seem to be peaking,” Falcons coach Bobby Peterson said of his team. “Our offense is going along, but the defense has gotten used to each other and they’re all playing on the same page.”

Six players scored against Ashley, and five players found the net against Lumberton.

Green Hope forward Maggie McLaughlin scored three goals and Ashley Stokes had two and an assist in the win over Lumberton. Nicole Danford had a goal and an assist, as did Anya Koren. Caitlyn Bradham scored once, while Taylor Rovito had two assists and Jordan Vezina and Sally Shupe had one apiece.

Peterson also praised his defense, which bottled up Lumberton midfielder Kim Currie, a North Carolina signee. Green Hope (18-2-1) was scheduled to host Broughton (19-3-1) in the third round of the playoffs on Tuesday. The result was not available at press time.

“Broughton’s always a good team,” Peterson said. “It’s going to take a big effort to beat them.”

Mustangs win opener

In its first five seasons, Middle Creek had been to the playoffs once and was eliminated in the first round. The draw didn’t favor the Mustangs this spring when they qualified for the playoffs for the second time in school history.

On the road against Greater Neuse River Conference champion Clayton on May 6, the Mustangs beat the Comets 5-4 on penalty kicks, giving them their first playoff win in school history.

Middle Creek took a 1-0 lead seven minutes into the game when Heather Carew scored, assisted by Meghan Robertson. Clayton equalized and forced overtime with a goal in the 78th minute.

After 80 minutes of regulation, 20 minutes of extra time and 10 minutes of sudden death, the game went to penalty kicks.

Heading into the shootout, Middle Creek coach Eddie Wasdell told goalkeeper Katie Broadwell he thought she needed to make one save for the Mustangs to win.

Clayton shot first and converted. Middle Creek’s Emily Henderson evened the shootout 1-1.

Broadwell stopped the Comets’ second attempt, and Carew converted to give the Mustangs a 2-1 advantage.

Clayton made its third attempt and then stopped Robertson to even the score at 2-2 through three rounds.

Clayton converted in the fourth round, as did Middle Creek’s Aubrie Gottfried. The Comets made their fifth kick, putting the Mustangs’ season on the foot of Jackie Uhlik.

“That was all the pressure in the world,” Wasdell said.

Uhlik made the PK, sending the shootout into sudden death.

Broadwell stopped the Comets’ attempt, saving the shot and tipping it off the crossbar, which gave Hope Hanson the chance to clinch the game for the Mustangs.

She coolly knocked the ball in to seal the win.

“It was awesome,” Wasdell said. “It was emotionally draining, but we came out on top. I was really proud of the girls.”

A second playoff win will have to wait until another year, though.

Middle Creek lost its second-round game 2-1 Saturday at Chapel Hill.

Chapel Hill scored four minutes in and went up 2-0 early in the second half.

Middle Creek cut the deficit in half when Hanson scored in the 73rd minute.

With two minutes remaining, Henderson had a shot deflected inches wide of the post. The Mustangs also had two corner kicks in the final minute, but they were unable to find the net and force overtime.

“I thought we had a really good chance of winning,” Wasdell said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t play as well as we could have. We never got into a rhythm.”

The Mustangs (9-13) got into the playoffs as the Tri-Eight’s No. 5 seed on the final day of the regular season. They needed to beat Athens Drive, which they did, and they needed Panther Creek to beat Cary, which the Catamounts did. A year ago, Middle Creek won only one game.

Pinecrest 2, Panther Creek 1 (OT)

Panther Creek’s first postseason game ended in heartbreak after the Catamounts lost 2-1 in overtime at Southern Pines Pinecrest on May 6 in the first round of the 4-A state playoffs.

The Catamounts’ Katelyn Reeve scored the game’s opening goal in the 28th minute, and Panther Creek took a 1-0 lead into halftime.

Coming out of the break, Pinecrest’s Latanya Cain evened the match at 1-1 early in the second half.

The Patriots’ Caitlin McArdle scored the game-winner in overtime.

Panther Creek finished the season 11-7-2 (8-6 in the Tri-Eight).

New Hanover 3, Holly Springs 0

Holly Springs qualified for the 4-A playoffs for the second straight year, but like last year, the Golden Hawks got a tough opening-round draw and were eliminated in the first round.

Wilmington New Hanover scored three goals in the first half on its way to a 3-0 win on May 7.

“Our girls struggled early in the first half to wake up from the long trip and never quite played to the best of our ability,” said Holly Springs coach David Lanuti.

The Golden Hawks gave a valiant effort in the second half, Lanuti said, but the deficit was too big to overcome.