KANNAPOLIS, N.C. – The Catawba Shores girls soccer crown is going nowhere.

Pine Lake Prep conquered one of the state’s toughest leagues for a third straight season when it defeated Christ The King 7-3 on Thursday evening.

The Pride are last year’s 2A state runner-up, while the Crusaders have raised the last three 1A state championship banners. To boot, second-place Mountain Island Charter is currently projected as the top seed in this year’s 1A West playoffs.

Christ The King broke the ice when Addison Peirce, who had struck the crossbar minutes into the match, slotted in a 13th-minute goal to grab a 1-0 advantage.

Less than a minute later, the match was level when Clemson recruit Sadie Peterson raced into the attacking third and netted her first of the night.

Avery Garrett quickly followed with a go-ahead goal to give the Pride a lead they would not relinquish.

Garrett’s 21st-minute corner led to a Dahlia Rood tally, and Peirce grabbed one back in the 30th when she connected with Lilly Reimels.

Pine Lake Prep blew a 3-2 halftime lead wide open in the second half to improve to 13-2 overall.

The No. 16-ranked Pride has won 12 straight matches after dropping two in the opening eight days of the season to No. 11 Charlotte Latin (now 17-2) and No. 1 Hough (now 20-0-1).

Christ The King is now 9-4-1 overall and 8-4 in league play. The Crusaders close out the regular season against Langtree Charter and Mountain Island Charter.

HighSchoolOT updates weekly NCHSAA playoff projections based on the state’s RPI formula. This information is available for those who are HighSchoolOT Insiders. To become an HSOT Insider or view the most recent projections, click below.