Preparing for Friday night's 3-A Eastern Carolina Conference Tournament final, Hunt girls soccer head coach Drew Nick pulled up a newspaper article for his team.
But unlike the usual locker-room, bulletin-board material, this one -- of last year's loss against Eastern Wayne in the finals -- was intended to hit a little closer to home.
"It was just a little motivational factor," Nick said. "Like, 'Remember what you had to do to get here. Don't let it slip away.'"
Hunt's Lady Warriors didn't let it slip away this time. Junior midfielder Katie Wilson scored midway the first half, giving Hunt a 1-0 win on its home field and its first league tournament championship since 2005.
"It feels great," Wilson said. "It feels like we finally get what we deserve. All of us have worked so hard this season, and we really came out with a great team.
"We had a lot of chances on goal, made a lot of good passes and stuck it out until the end."
In the 20th minute, Wilson took the ball upfield along the left sideline, cut to the top of the box and fired a shot to the far post.
"I was so nervous when I struck it," Wilson said. "I was just saying: 'Please go in.'"
Hunt, entering in the same situation as last year, undefeated in conference play, completed its conference title run and heads into next week's playoffs with a 19-2 record. It will face a wild-card team, which will be announced this weekend on the N.C. High School Athletic Association's Web site.
"I felt both teams played excellent," said Nick, who was doused with Gatorade by his players after the game. "Both teams left everything on the field, no question. But, in my first season, my girls have really played a beautiful season together."
Eastern Wayne finished 10-7 overall and heads into the playoffs as the No. 2 seed, facing the Mid-South Conference's No. 3 seed.
"Overall, we're disappointed, of course, but Hunt probably deserved to win," Eastern Wayne head coach Jörg Wagner said. "They had plenty of chances -- a couple hit the bar and so forth -- and we can't play one half of a half as strong as we did and hope to beat Hunt."
Wilson's goal highlighted Hunt's dominance in the first half, when it outshot Eastern Wayne 17-2. But one goal was all it had to show for it.
"You know, I'd rather have opportunities than nothing," Nick said, laughing. "If you look at the balance of shots, we had the advantage in opportunities. Like last game, we had opportunity after opportunity after opportunity and, if you're not getting them, you're not going to score. But if you have opportunities, you know the chances of scoring are increased."
On the other side, Eastern Wayne felt like it had dodged a big bullet behind strong defense and solid play by goalkeeper Danielle Daniel, who stopped 10 shots in the half and 13 overall.
"In the first half, I thought we laid back and didn't win a whole lot of one-on-ones," Wagner said, "and we were definitely fortunate to go into halftime only one down. I think, at halftime, our team decided to play a little harder and win more tackles."
In the second half, Hunt maintained control, but Eastern Wayne responded with two great chances in the final 15 minutes.
Hunt's defense, however, stood firm in front of senior goalkeeper Monica Campbell, who finished with three saves in Hunt's 14th shutout this season.
Eastern Wayne's Janielle Daniel provided the biggest threat for Hunt, creating her team's best chance with five minutes left on a pass over the top that Campbell knocked away.
Nick rotated his defense throughout, marking Daniel with fresh defenders that helped silence her most of the game.
"All throughout the year, our defense has been phenomenal and solid for us," Nick said. "I can't say enough about those girls on the defensive line."
Riding that strong defensive effort -- combined with a strong sense of redemption -- Hunt heads into the state playoffs on an eight-match winning streak.
"To win a state title is very, very difficult, but anything can happen," Nick said. "And right now, it's just a little bit of our time. It feels good, so I'm not going to let that moment go for now. But we're going to carry that momentum into states, and whatever happens, happens."
mlindsay@wilsontimes.com | 265-7807