MATTHEWS, N.C. — Call them favorites, call them Dark Horses, call them champions.

On Friday night, Clinton took home the N.C. High School Athletic Association 2A boys soccer championship by a 3-1 score over Southwestern Randolph.

The Dark Horses won their title — the first boys soccer championship ever hosted by the Mecklenburg County Sportsplex — in their patented style.

For 80 minutes, the Clinton combination of strong defense and quick passing, coupled with making the best of their chances, was enough to take down the Cougars in a battle of the top seeds in their respective brackets.

“We knew coming in that Southwestern Randolph was going to be extremely tough because they were the No. 1 offensive team in 2A and we were hoping, because we were the No. 1 defense in 2A, that we could hold them. The cliché is ‘defense wins championships,'” Clinton coach Brad Spell said. “I thought our team defense did a good job and everybody contributed with that.”

There were times when Southwestern Randolph (25-3), particularly in the latter stage of the game, put immense pressure on Clinton’s defense.

But the Dark Horses (28-2) were able to possess the ball for long stretches, which meant those spurts for the Cougars were less frequent.

Clinton led 2-1 at halftime, taking a 1-0 lead as Holden Spell poked in a through ball from Griffin Williams that caught the Cougars’ back line off-guard in the 17th minute. It was Williams’ 31st assist and Spell’s 23rd goal.

Southwestern Randolph answered just 27 seconds later as Fernando Hernandez took a touch at the top of the box and his shot beat the keeper to the far side, making it 1-1. Jonathan Lopez Degollado had the assist.

It was the 50th goal of the season for Hernandez, who pointed to the sky as he has done all season in memory of fallen teammate Pedro Ortiz-Perez, who was killed in May and in whose memory the team had dedicated the season. According to multiple reports by Triad media, Ortiz was shot by another teen on May 3 and died 11 days later at just 16 years of age. He had not been the intended target of the attack.

“The tragedy we went through has brought us together and made this team great,” said Hernandez, who hit the crossbar twice in the final 15 minutes.

It was an emotional journey for Southwestern Randolph just to be in the championship game.

“I watched boys grow into men. They’re not supposed to have to go through what they’ve gone through. We’ve overcome so much and it’s going to help us, not just for next year but their whole lives,” Walker said. “They’ve overcome so much that anything they’re going to encounter in life, they’ve been there, done that and understand how to get over things and honor people in a different way and look at life differently.”

Just when it looked like the score was going to be 1-1 at half, Clinton struck again.

The go-ahead goal came from Brandt Sumner, whose initial shot was blocked and fell to Spell, who laid it back to Sumner at the top of the box. Sumner made the best of his second chance, and it was 2-1.

“It was a great build-up,” Sumner said.

Sumner, who was active all night for Clinton, was the game’s MVP.

Early in the second half, a 49th minute goal by David Paz, who was left all alone in the box when a misplayed cross found his foot, made it 3-1.

Clinton, the top seed from the East, was making its third appearance in the state championship, all since 2018. It now has two championships.

Southwestern Randolph, the top seed from the West, was making its first championship appearance.

Before the game, each team honored its sportsmanship award winner for the season: Ryan Freeman from Clinton and Daniel Arellano from Southwestern Randolph.