Hickory wins first girls soccer title, downs Dixon in 5A championship game

DURHAM, N.C. — Hickory was not going to be denied this time.

The Red Tornadoes battled their way with two second-half goals to defeat Dixon 2-0 in Friday's N.C. High School Athletic Association 5A girls soccer championship game at Durham County Memorial Stadium.

Hickory is no stranger to long postseason runs, but there had always been a stumbling block keeping the program from playing for a state title.

The roads were smoothened this year.

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• View Photos: Hickory vs. Dixon (May 29, 2026). HSOT Insiders can download championship photos for free. Here's how.

The two goals in wild sequences.

In the 47th minute, Hickory midfielder Val Bravo found Piper Jillings on a through ball that also met by Dixon keeper Avah Burns. The ball scudded away from Burns and was cleared by a defender — forcefully — off Bravo and the ricochet hit the crossbar.

It landed at the top of the box where an alert Stephanie Zulueta could score it with the keeper off her line.

The two teams battled for every 50-50 ball, but it was a long through ball from Bravo that Jillings touched past an oncoming Burns to make it 2-0 in the 75th.

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Jillings was named MVP, not just for her goal, but for the job she did in winning the ball back.

At one point between the Red Tornadoes' first and second goals, she was almost at the opposite touch line in defense, something that she does naturally in club soccer as a defender.

NCHSAA girls soccer conference standings for the 2026 season

Dixon (19-4-2), the East regional champ, and Hickory (23-1-1), the West regional champ, had combined for only one prior championship appearance — Dixon's 2008 title.

Before the game, each team named a Sportsmanship Award winner. It was Lizzie Capps for Dixon and Harper White for Hickory.

Box Score

• Scoring
  • Stephanie Zulueta (Hickory) '45
  • Piper Jillings (Hickory) '75 — assist Val Bravo

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