First Flight girls came away with two Brittany Willis Memorial Scholarship Soccer Showcase wins over the weekend to post an early season 3-0 record.

After crushing Northeast Academy for Aerospace and Advanced Tech 9-0 in the March 3 season opener, the Nighthawks went to Wilson for two of the 57 matches spread over two days at J. Burt Gillette Athletic Complex.

Facing off against Clinton Friday night, First Flight head coach Joel Mount said his team played an aggressive and well organized game against the Dark Horses for the 3-0 win.

The Nighthawks saw scores from Leighton Dutt, Tori Vanacore and Summer Stevens to up the team record to 2-0. The Clinton loss dropped them to 0-3-1.

Back in action Saturday, the Nighthawks battled through a scoreless first half with the Swansboro Pirates. Then, just short of 12 minutes into the second half, the Swansboro goalie made a diving grab at a shot on the goal only to lose the ball when hitting the ground. First Flight’s Dutt was there to tap it into the goal and the Nighthawks were up 1-0.

About a minute and a half later the Nighthawks were back at the Pirates’ goal where Stevens punched the ball into the Swansboro goal just outside the goalie’s reach to give the Nighthawks a 2-0 lead. Swansboro responded with an appearance on the scoreboard with 24:31 left to play, but it proved to be too little too late when Stevens added yet another goal for the Nighthawks with 21:03 remaining on the clock.

“Saturday was trickier,” said Mount. “Swansboro was more aggressive and played a little deeper, so it was a different kind of test. But we worked through it and in the second half we figured out how to work through their blocks.”

The 3-1 win over the Swansboro Pirates improves the Nighthawks to an early season 3-0 overall record.  It was the first loss of the season for Swansboro, which drops their record 2-1-3.

Looking ahead, First Flight was scheduled to face off against Cox at 5 p.m. Tuesday, March 11, then play at Northeastern 5 p.m. March 12 and host Great Bridge at 6:30 p.m. Friday.

Also playing at the Brittany Showcase, Manteo varsity girls defeated C.B. Aycock High School 4-1 Friday evening and lost 4-1 to Hickory High School on Saturday. Playing only one game Saturday, Currituck County varsity girls lost their Brittany match against Enloe High School 4-1.

Promoted not as a tournament but instead as a venue that allows teams to play worthy opponents, this was the 19th year in memory of Brittany Willis, who on June 28, 2004 had her life suddenly and tragically cut short when she became a victim of horrific, random violence.

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