Staff report

ASHEBORO — Goal-scoring threat Sarah Safrit was out of action with a hip injury and standout Cassie Howard has walking pneumonia, but Carson still found a way to win a 3A playoff game for the first time on Wednesday.
The Cougars, the No. 3 seed from the North Piedmont Conference, pulled out a 1-0 decision in a first-round road match at Southwestern Randolph (6-8-2).
Howard had the assist, pulling out the goalkeeper and then getting the ball to Cierra Josey, who finished the play with seven minutes left in the match.
Josey drilled her right-footed shot to the back post.
“Cassie was maybe 40 percent tonight, but she dug down deep and was tough as she could be,” Carson coach Ken Correll said. “We were able to spot her and play her a limited amount because Hannah Elmore and Katie Nichols played tremendous games.”
Dakota Boardman anchored Carson’s defense, and keeper Alex Allen had another spectacular shutout.
“Our defense did a great job,” Correll said. “Alex made great saves. She had a tremendous save one-on-one at the end. She just had an unbelievable night.”
Carson (10-7-1) will play at Charlotte Catholic (17-2-3) on Saturday. Catholic rolled 9-0 against Statesville on Wednesday.