SEATTLE (AP) — The Seattle Reign retired former star Megan Rapinoe’s No. 15 jersey and then capped the celebration with a 1-0 stoppage-time victory over the North Carolina Courage in the National Women’s Soccer League on Sunday night.

Teenager Emeri Adames finally broke through for the Reign seven minutes into stoppage time with a header that bounced off the post and into the goal as Courage goalkeeper Casey Murphy tried in vain to stop it.

Afterward, 18-year-old Adames celebrated by striking Rapinoe’s iconic victory pose from the 2019 Women’s World Cup as Rapinoe cheered her on from the stands.

Jaelin Howell came close to scoring for Seattle shortly after entering the game in the 75th minute, but her left-footed shot from out front went just wide. Howell was acquired by the Reign earlier in the week in a trade with Racing Louisville.

The victory was Reign coach Laura Harvey’s 100th in the NWSL.

The weekend’s games were the first for the NWSL after a six-week break in the regular season for the Olympics.

Rapinoe spent her entire NWSL career with the Reign before retiring from soccer last year. Her jersey was the first retired by the club.

Rapinoe joined the Reign in the league’s first season in 2013 and played in 115 regular-season games with 51 goals.

Fans displayed a banner of Rapinoe’s image that read: “You Changed the Game.” Seattle’s Space Needle was lit up in lavender — a nod to Rapinoe’s hair color at the 2019 World Cup — for the occasion.

“Just overwhelmed,” Rapinoe said. “Honestly, the whole weekend, the club’s done such a great job in putting this all together and just to see everyone in lavender, all the No. 15s, all the support, it’s the world to me. Very overwhelming.”

Spirit 4, Current 1

Trinity Rodman scored to lift the Washington Spirit to a 4-1 win over the Kansas City Current Audi Field. It was her fifth goal this season.

Rodman scored three goals for the United States at the Paris Olympics, helping the team go undefeated on the way to a gold medal.

The Spirit jumped out to an early lead on Paige Metayer’s goal in the ninth minute and Ouleye Sarr’s goal in the 14th. Sarr leads the Spirit with eight goals. Croix Bethune had her 10th assist of the season, matching Tobin Heath’s season record set in 2016 with Portland.

After Rodman’s goal in the 50th, the Current’s Temwa Chawinga scored her league-leading 13th goal. Chawinga has tied a league record by scoring in six straight games.

Leicy Santos, making her NWSL debut, capped the match with a final goal for the Spirit. Santos, who played at the Olympics for Colombia, came to the Spirit from Atletico Madrid.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Are there known carcinogens hiding in your child’s classroom? WRAL Investigates why some North Carolina schools are refusing to take action.

Web Editor : Mark Bergin
Reporter : Keely Arthur
Photographer : Richard Adkins
Producer : Pritchard Strong

Posted 2024-08-25T22:00:00-0400 – Updated 2024-08-25T22:00:00-0400

The 2024 North Carolina high school football season is in full gear now with the public schools opening play. Weddington beat Providence Day in a game with national ranking implications, Mount Airy won its 31st consecutive game and Reidsville found a quarterback.

Here are five key takeaways from this week’s games.

This was like a heavyweight title fight between two superpowers, with Weddington coming in as the reigning NCHSAA 4-A state champion and Providence Day the NCISAA Division I titleholder. In a 13-7 game, defense obviously ruled the day in the nightcap of the Keep Pounding doubleheader at Bank of America Stadium.

Weddington held an offense featuring Zaid Lott, Kendre Harrison and David Sanders to 150 yards of offense, including 18 on the ground. That’s impressive. It helps that the Warriors have four power-4 recruits, including end Aiden Harris and linebacker Thomas Davis Jr., on that side of the ball.

On the offensive end, the Warriors ground out 105 yards on the ground and limited Providence Day’s possessions. Weddington also had superior depth.

Reidsville entered the season as the reigning 2-A state champion but with a question mark at quarterback.

Not anymore.

It’s Dionte Neal, who was a superstar from the beginning of his freshman year in both football and basketball. Neal was 12-of-14 for 88 yards and 2 touchdowns in the Rams’ 28-3 over Western Alamance. He also ran for 81 yards and a touchdown on 6 carries. That’s not all. Neal had a 93-yard kickoff return and ran back an interception 35 yards.

The Rolesville-Butler matchup figured to one to watch. But that was before Rolesville scored 57 points.

In the first half.

Quarterback Braden Atkinson was 22-of-31 for 317 yards and 3 touchdowns in the 64-14 rout. De’Von Thomas had 160 yards of total offense and 3 touchdowns. 

The Rams rolled up a whopping 474 yards of offense in the first half.

The opener of the Keep Pounding Classic wasn’t bad either. Independence raced to a 24-0 lead before having to hold on at the end.

Independence tailback Jayden Jones ran for 198 yards and 2 touchdowns on 20 carries. Much of that production was in the first half. Quarterback Justin Little threw for 201 yards and a touchdown.

Myers Park quarterback Jared Lockhart rallied his team in the second half, finishing with 249 yards and a pair of touchdown passes – both to Chaz Portis, the son of former NFL running back Clinton Portis.

Mount Airy has won back-to-back 1-A state championships. The Granite Bears mauled North Surry 50-14 to win their 31st consecutive game.

Taeshon Martin ran for 185 yards and 4 touchdowns as Mount Airy dominated after an early 14-7 deficit. Fisher Leftwich ran an interception 62 yards for a touchdown and caught a 31-yard touchdown pass.