Thirteen games had come and gone without anyone finding a way to beat Laney boys soccer.
Hoggard wasn’t particularly interested in being impressed.
The Vikings had seen this opponent plenty of times: three times last fall, each meeting reinforcing how little separated Wilmington's two premier programs.
The last came 313 days ago, with a trip to the state championship game on the line. Hoggard would walk out of Scott Braswell Stadium with a 3-0 victory that day in the NCHSAA 8A East regional final.
On Tuesday, Sept. 22, the stakes were different.
The result, however, was nearly identical.
Hoggard (9-0-1) dismantled Laney’s perfect start with a 4-1 victory, handing the Buccaneers (13-1) their
first loss of 2026 and extending the Vikings’ unbeaten streak in the rivalry to nine games dating back to 2022.
“We really wanted it more,” Hoggard’s Jace Tucker said. “We got the job done with our mentality.”
That mentality showed up early, and Tucker was at the center of it.
The senior was an unavoidable force Tuesday, repeatedly stretching Laney’s back line with his speed and creating pressure from the sideline with his long throw-ins. One of those throws helped produce Hoggard’s second goal of the night.
Tucker has always been fast, but he’s recently shown that speed isn’t reserved for the football field. He emerged as one of Hoggard’s top sprinters last spring, starring in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes.
Senior Ayoub Abdelhamid helped put the game away late, scoring for just the second time this fall and punctuating a result that only added to the Vikings’ confidence.
“It’s a great feeling, and it’s a big result for us,” Abdelhamid said. “We’re coming for that second state chip, baby. We’re working hard for it.”
That goal remains a long way off, and the road there won’t get easier.
Hoggard still has to make the trip across Wilmington for a rematch at Laney before the postseason arrives, another test in a closing stretch that could prove even more demanding than the first half of the season.
But for coach Dwight Findlay, Tuesday’s biggest takeaway went beyond another rivalry win or another step toward a conference title.
It was the way his players responded together.
“The energy behind just kind of being together as a team … we’re going to fight for each other,” Findlay said. “We have a strong brotherhood here. You can feel that in the group, so it’s exciting.”
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Hoggard boys soccer stays unbeaten, ends Laney’s perfect start
