Carson McLean recorded a second-half hat-trick to help the Union Pines boys' soccer team ease by South Johnston 5-2 in a semifinal match of the Cape Fear Valley Conference tournament.

The victory meant the Vikings (20-1-2) faced Harnett Central at Union Pines on Thursday in the championship match of the tournament.

In the first of the two games played at Wilhoit Stadium on a cold evening, Harnett Central advanced with a 2-1 win over Southern Lee.

Diego Paul and Dalton Hadlock scored first-half goals, giving the Vikings a 2-1 lead at the intermission.

McLean's outburst began in the 47th minute with a goal off of a touch from Hadlock, making it 3-1. In the 68th minute, Hadlock crossed a ball from the right that McLean put in the back of the net with his first touch.

That goal was countered by a South Johnston penalty kick only about four minutes later, making it 4-2. Outside midfielder Todd Gingerich released several laser shots from long range that missed the mark before McLean completed the scoring with a long shot of his own in the 68th minute.

Vike Netters Advance

The third round beckons the Union Pines volleyball team after Tuesday's convincing 25-16, 25-15, 23-35 and 25-13 victory at Wilson Fike.

The Vikings (19-3) are expected to be back in action in the state 3-A tournament on Thursday against an opponent still to be determined.

"I think net play is pretty much what won it for us," Viking coach Leslie Fish said. "We had them (Fike) scrambling all over the place, and we also served tough."

The statistics tell the story. Mikayla Deardorf with 16 kills and seven blocks, and Carly Shiflett with 16 kills and six blocks, had big nights up front for the winners. Courtney Sauer had 10 kills to go with six digs and Lindsay Wilborn chipped in with eight kills. Setting them up were Brynn Connor with 34 assists and Brianne Hendrick with 10.

Defensively, Connor had six digs, Hendrick had five, and Caitlin Harris and Caroline Lea had three each. The leading servers were Shiflett with 19 points and Conner with 13.

The win over the No. 1 seed from the New Six Conference improves Union Pines to 19-3 on the season.

NM Booters End Up Third

The North Moore boys' soccer team was upset 1-0 by Thomasville on Monday before completing the regular season on Tuesday with a 12-0 victory at Chatham Central.

"We played a very uninspired, slow-paced game, and allowed Thomasville to hang around," Mustang coach Michael Shamberger said. "They scored in the second half, and when we decided to play it was too late."

On Tuesday, the Mustangs tried to make up for it. The goal scorers were Bernardo Cruz, Rogelio Catalan and Joaquin Diaz with two apiece, Ozzie Castillo, Manny Mendoza, Eric Diaz, Rual Chavez, Omar Gonzalez and Carlos Avila.

Contributing assists were Diego Garcia (two), Omar Gonzalez, Eric Diaz, Chavez, Castillo, Avila, Edwin De La Cruz and Joaquin Diaz. Jonni Lopez and Avila shared the goalkeeping for the Mustangs.

North Moore, 10-7 overall, finished Yadkin Valley Conference play with a 7-5 mark behind first-place East Montgomery and second-place Jordan-Matthews.