After state finals disappointment, Ardrey Kell girls soccer has one goal: ring
A year ago, Ardrey Kell’s girls soccer team was ranked No. 3 in the nation and was riding a 13-game winning streak heading into the state finals.
Ardrey Kell, which had never won a girls soccer state title, was in the final for a fourth time, and was favored to beat a Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons team which was a No. 23 seed in the N.C. 4A Eastern playoff bracket.
Ardrey Kell dominated play, but only managed one goal, and Gibbons upset the Knights after two overtimes and penalty kicks. Now, the 2023 Knights said not a day has gone by when they don’t remember that loss.
“I still think about it before I go to bed,” said Knights senior Carly Montgomery, “and that’s not an exaggeration. It was one of the worst feelings. But knowing that we got there makes me believe we can do it again, and with the work we’ve put in since then, I’m super, super confident.”
Ardrey Kell (20-3-1) beat Independence 9-0 in a first round N.C. 4A playoff game Monday, and the Knights all say this season is about one thing:
Redemption.
“I haven’t slept since losing (last) June 4,” Knights coach Kim Montgomery said, with only a hint of a grin to let you know she’s embellishing. “So I’m pretty tired. Soccer can be a very cruel game. It’s an amazing game, too. It’s brought all the coaches and girls and this community amazing things, like our ride last year. It was full of memories we’ll never forget.”
Reloaded and ready
This year, Ardrey Kell is No. 87 in the MaxPreps national rankings, which is well behind N.C. teams like No. 3 Providence Day (20-2), which will host North Raleigh Christian in a state semifinal Tuesday. Weddington (18-4), which lost 3-0 to Ardrey Kell in February, is No. 22 nationally. And Charlotte Latin (16-2-1), which plays Covenant Day in a state semifinal Tuesday, is No. 26.
Also ahead of the Knights are No. 29 Wilmington Hoggard, No. 45 Chapel Hill, No. 53 Jacksonville, No. 57 Cardinal Gibbons, No. 63 Cuthbertson and No. 70 Holly Springs.
But here’s the thing the polls don’t show, besides the fact the Knights have shut out Cuthbertson (1-0 March 7) and Hoggard (4-0 March 31).
Since Ardrey Kell has gotten healthy and whole — since it played its way past a mid-season injury bug and since Taylor Suarez, the reigning N.C. Gatorade player of the year, has returned after training with the U.S. National team — Ardrey Kell has played its best soccer of the season.
Actually, Montgomery thinks it’s more than that.
The Knights lost one starter and three players off the state final team. They’ve added three freshman and three new goalies — 5-3 sophomore Waleska Rugel Gonzalez, 5-9 senior Charlotte Memon, who played for the Ardrey Kell girls basketball team, and starter Caroline McSweeney, who is also 5-9. That trio brings size, speed and length to the position that the Knights didn’t have last year.
That’s changed how Montgomery can organize her defense. There’s less protection, more aggression.
“This team is better than last year’s team,” she said. “Last year’s team set the culture of who we were going to be. We have seven seniors. I have amazing leadership. I feel like what we learned from last year we can take into this year’s (playoffs). We didn’t eat a lot of crap sandwiches last year. We got to the finals with only one loss. This year, we had to manage through a new goal keeper, three freshmen, a couple injuries and when Suarez went to the national team for a little bit. We had to fight through and make sure everybody was doing their part, and you know what? Everybody gained confidence.”
Playing their best....ever?
Before Montgomery took the job 11 years ago, Ardrey Kell had reached state finals in 2008, ‘09 and ‘11. She saw the 2011 team play and has maintained the national power since then.
She said she’s never seen an Ardrey Kell team play this well.
The Knights’ current nine-game win streak includes a 5-0 win over Providence, a 3-1 win over Hough and a 4-1 win over Myers Park. Those teams have a combined 12 NCHSAA state championship game appearances between them.
“We have a lot of talent,” Montgomery said.
Montgomery’s daughter, Carly, has signed with Texas. Senior Lyla Chadd committed to Presbyterian. Junior Ally Casey has committed to Memphis. And Suarez has committed to Florida State.
Suarez plans to graduate early next January and either train with a professional team or report to Florida State.
This season, she leads the Knights with 26 goals and 19 assists. Carly Montgomery has 14 goals and 13 assists, sophomore Ellie Riechman has 10 goals and 11 assists, and Casey has seven goals and 11 assists.
Suarez, though, is the opposition’s main worry.
She comes from a family of baseball players. Her father played at Seton Hall, her brothers at Charlotte and Lenoir-Rhyne.
Suarez started soccer at 4, begging her mother to let her try the sport. Pretty soon, she was showing off the rare type of natural speed, quickness and instincts that lands players like her on the U.S. National Team’s radar.
Suarez started with U17s in 2021. She started at forward on the 2022 World Cup team and is with the U20 team now. Coach Montgomery thinks she could be an Olympian one day.
“I always dominated at the youth level,” said Suarez, 17. “And I felt like I was doing more than most girls my age, and when I got called into my first national team camp in 2021, I was like, this is approval for me that I was doing good and how I want to be playing.”
The final goal? Make up for 2022
Like Suarez, lots of Knights have impressive resumes, even the coach.
Montgomery, then Kim Yankowski, was an All-American at N.C. State. In 2000, she was named to the ACC’s “Top Women Soccer Players of All-Time team.” She was a reserve for nearly a decade for the U.S. women’s national team.
Today, she’s married to a former Duke football player and now coaches her two daughters, Carly and Madison.
Montgomery’s Knights have the college recruits and a roster full of quality high school talent.
The one thing they don’t have, and the one thing they all desperately want, is that first state title.
“To not win that final game, by way of penalty kicks, it was very painful,” coach Montgomery said. “It was just a very tough pill to swallow, but not to take away from the ride we were on and what it meant. My heart was broken into a million pieces, but the amount of love that team has has shifted over into this year.”
Like her mother, Carly Montgomery — the University of Texas bound center back — thinks 2023 Ardrey Kell is even better than the 2022 version.
“We gained experience,” she said, “and we gained three awesome freshman, new goalies. And if we can get back to the state finals, I think we would have an advantage. We’ve been there before and we know the pressure and what it’s like. It’ll feel a little calmer and we could just play our games a little bit.”
Suarez, the All-American, agrees with all of that. She also said there’s a real sense or urgency with her team this year.
“It’s really important to me and a lot of players on the team, especially the seniors,” she said. “This is my last year of high school soccer, even if I’m not a senior. I’ve never won a state championship and that’s part of my goals. Yes, I want to go to the Olympics one day and play for the national team, but it’s also the little goals along the way. And it’s just a memory I want to have one day.
“So it’s really important to me, and I’ll do everything I can to take this team and get us there.”
