E. Lincoln, S. Caldwell, Watauga also
have home matches in first round
By CHRIS HOBBS
HobbsDailyReport.com
CHAPEL HILL – The state boys’ high school soccer championship tournaments begin on Tuesday with seven teams from Greater Hickory area conferences in the mix.
The pairings were posted to the website of the North Carolina High School Athletic Association (NCHSA) after they were completed on Saturday.
The 2A bracket includes Hibriten and Fred T. Foard from the Northwestern Foothills 2A and East Lincoln and Newton-Conover from the South Fork 2A.
Hickory and Watauga from the Northwestern 3A-4A are in the 3A bracket and South Caldwell gained that league’s 4A postseason bid.
Hibriten is the No. 1 seed in the West 2A bracket.
East Lincoln was the South Fork 2A champion, Hibriten won the Northwestern Foothills 2A title and Hickory and Watauga shared a title in the Northwestern 3A-4A with Watauga gaining the top playoff seed.
South Caldwell got in via having the top 4A record in the league (McDowell is the only other 4A in the Northwestern 3A-4A).
AREA TEAM’S FIRST ROUND MATCHES
West 2A
No. 10 Newton-Conover (9-1-2) at No. 7 Ledford (11-1-1)
No. 11 Fred T. Foard (12-2-0) at No. 6 Black Mountain Owen (8-2-1)
No. 12 Forbush (6-2-2) at No. 5 E. Lincoln (10-1-1)
No. 16 Smoky Mountain (7-4-2) at No. 1 Hibriten (14-0-0)
West 3A
No. 15 Mount Tabor (10-1-2) at No. 2 Watauga (11-1-0)
No. 16 Hickory (11-1-0) at No. 1 Forestview (12-0-0)
West 4A
No. 13 Providence (6-1-0) at No. 4 S. Caldwell (5-6-0)
STATEWIDE PAIRINGS: https://www.nchsaa.org/sites/default/files/2020-2021%20NCHSAA%20FINAL%20MSOC%20BRACKETS.pdf
FINAL STANDINGS STATEWIDE: https://www.nchsaa.org/sites/default/files/Mens%20Soccer%20Final%20Conference%20Standings%202021%209%20am.pdf