Playoff Round 1 East Best Players

<p>Round 1 of the NCHSAA playoffs in the east provided us with plenty of teams and, especially, players. With 64 matches played across all 4 levels, there were plenty of players who impressed. Some schools make their debut in these types of lists, especially at the 1A level. With the importance of the matches, the quality, and the sheer number of matches, these lists will be longer than usual. Some levels have more entrants than the rest, a pattern that most likely will continue as I continue writing about the playoffs. With all of this, the following list is of, in my opinion, the best players of Round 1 in this region.</p>   <h2 class="wp-block-heading">1A Level</h2>   <p>An underreported level due to the difficulty of watching and getting information from. However, plenty of players have been putting up great performances throughout the season. The <a href="https://www.nchsaa.org/bracket/2025-1a-womens-soccer-bracket/">East region</a> of the playoffs suffers from the typical difficulties of this level, leaving very few players actually visible. That doesn't mean that none were visible, something that the following player took advantage of.</p>    <p class="text-gray-700">Rachel is a right-midfielder who makes her team function, especially going forward. Her work rate is fantastic, helping just as much in defense as she does in attack. Though she offers a great helping hand defensively, her main function in this round was offensive. Her set pieces are fantastic, whether she is looking to score or assist. Direct free-kicks from far don't bother her to shoot, finding the target phenomenally. Her crossing is just as good, creating chances and getting assists with her pinpoint accuracy. When she shoots in open play, she does so with great power.</p>    <h2 class="wp-block-heading">2A Level</h2>   <p>The <a href="https://www.nchsaa.org/bracket/2025-2a-womens-soccer-bracket/">2A level</a> surprisingly provides more visibility in the East region than the 3A level. This works wonderfully for the following players who rose to the occasion spectacularly.</p>    <p class="text-gray-700">Emma is a very talented striker who is a headache for the defense all game long. Immensely fast and determined, she exploits open space easily. She constantly gets in behind, tiring the defenders out both physically and mentally. Her constant runs in behind are also the fruit of her work. Even though the open spaces exist, getting into them would be hard for any other player. She opens up a channel for her to run in with her physicality and mentality. These runs evidently leave her through on goal all game long, which she capitalizes on greatly. Her finishing is great, getting goals for fun.</p>     <p class="text-gray-700">Casey makes an appearance <a href="https://prepsoccer.com/2025/04/2a-matchday-6s-best-performers/">again</a>, and most likely will continue to do so. She's a natural striker talent, excelling as the focal point in her attack. Regardless of where her teams start attacks, she will make her presence felt. Extremely fast, she will leave players in the dust without breaking a sweat. When she has her sights on goal, she proves to be fatal. With 6 goals in this round, she absolutely blew through the opposition's defense. Her finishing is elite, enjoying the pressure instead of buckling under it. Even though she's immensely dangerous offensively, her linkup play is great too. She helps circulate the ball greatly, even getting an assist in this round.</p>     <p class="text-gray-700">Daynet is a goalkeeper who rose to the occasion in a crucial manner. She held her team down during regular time, making saves to keep a draw, even through overtime. In a back-and-forth match, she kept her team in the competition. When the penalty shootout came around, she truly shone the brightest. She came in clutch for her team, making multiple saves during the shootout. Even when the other team had match-winning penalties, she did not falter and made the necessary saves. She crowned her performance by making the match-winning save, proving her calmness under pressure.</p>    <h2 class="wp-block-heading">3A Level</h2>   <p>The East region of the <a href="https://www.nchsaa.org/bracket/2025-3a-womens-soccer-bracket/">3A level</a> unfortunately did not give as much visibility as expected. However, just as was the case for 1A, this doesn't mean that there wasn't visibility. The following pick took advantage wonderfully.</p>    <p class="text-gray-700">Abigail is a left back who is a unique talent, who is just as talented offensively as she is defensively. Defensively, she completely locked down her flank, making the opposing right flank's players' job impossible. Either through tackles or her anticipation, she was a constant frustration for the opposing team. Offensively, she gets forward greatly, mostly through overlapping. She's ambidextrous, lifting crosses easily with both feet. These crosses are fantastic as well, even getting an assist off a corner. She even got a wonderful goal, helping her team directly to go through.</p>    <h2 class="wp-block-heading">4A Level</h2>   <p>The <a href="https://www.nchsaa.org/bracket/2025-4a-womens-soccer-bracket/">4A level</a>, East region provides us with a constant stream of talent and gives them the most visibility. The following two players were the best performers among a plethora of others.</p>    <p class="text-gray-700">Avery is a fantastic poacher-style striker, proving to be a lethal player in the box. She knows when to make movements and where to position herself excellently. Thanks to her team's high attacking volume, she constantly has chances to pounce on. She does so to perfection, making the opposing team pay dearly for leaving her in prime positions. She's a natural-born finisher, calmly and correctly finding the back of the net. The box is her habitat, clearly being more comfortable when she's in it.</p>     <p class="text-gray-700">Sorin is another striker who makes the final third her home fantastically. Fast and progressive-minded, she's a constant headache for the opposing defence. On the ball, she proves to be a great and intelligent dribbler. She'll open as much space for either her or her teammates as she can, even if she has to go all the way to the touchline. She beats players with her dribbling all the time, but she also does so with her chance creation. Finding players with ease in the box, she constantly creates danger. More often than not, though, she's the one finishing these plays. She's even better at doing so than creating them, bagging goals very easily.</p>

Round 1 of the NCHSAA playoffs in the east provided us with plenty of teams and, especially, players. With 64 matches played across all 4 levels, there were plenty of players who impressed. Some schools make their debut in these types of lists, especially at the 1A level. With the importance of the matches, the quality, and the sheer number of matches, these lists will be longer than usual. Some levels have more entrants than the rest, a pattern that most likely will continue as I continue writing about the playoffs. With all of this, the following list is of, in my opinion, the best players of Round 1 in this region.