Wilmington -- Ashley girls soccer keeps finding a way, even when the odds say otherwise.

The No. 12-seeded Screaming Eagles (22-2-2) captured their third straight NCHSAA 4A East regional championship Tuesday, May 27, with a convincing 2-0 win over No. 14 Millbrook in Wilmington.

The victory sends Ashley to its third consecutive 4A state title game, an achievement that seemed nearly out of reach just a month ago.

Already adjusting to a reworked roster this spring, the team suffered a substantial blow when senior center back Zoe Finelli sustained a season-ending injury in April.

Ashley dropped two of its following four matches after losing only three contests total over the past two years.

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Ashley scored first as Kieran Bradley took a hard foul inside the penalty box with just a few minutes left in the first half. The junior then sent a rolling shot into the bottom right-hand corner of the net, breaking the deadlock.

Now, Ashley is back with one more chance at the elusive 4A crown that has narrowly slipped away in each of the past two seasons.

Senior Savannah Manset and Bradley have been through it all. The duo has risen to an elevated role this spring, leading the Screaming Eagles in scoring all spring long.

A state title victory would mark not only the first state championship for the girls soccer program at Ashley but the first in any team sport in the school's 23-year history.

It's a moment the Screaming Eagles don't take lightly. What was expected to be the closing chapter of a dominant run has instead turned into one final push -- a defiant stand from a team that refuses to quit.