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Kieran Bradley has heard the noise.
She’s seen the rankings, digested the predictions and listened to all the doubts.
Bradley and her Ashley girls soccer teammates do not care.
“I knew from the beginning, this year is going to be special,” Bradley said after scoring a hat trick against Hoggard Tuesday in a 4-1 victory over their city rival. “Even though we typically aren’t ranked higher, we come out here and show everybody who we are.”
Bradley’s goals all came in the first half, helping the Screaming Eagles claim the top spot in the Mideastern Conference as teams approach the midway point of league play.
The game marks Bradley’s third hat-trick of 2025 and second against Hoggard, as she achieved the feat as just a freshman in Ashley’s 4-3 overtime victory two seasons ago.
Bradley is part of group solution to a roster makeover this spring for Ashley (11-0-2, 6-0). Top players Karina and Kiley Peat graduated high school in December, opting to forgo their senior seasons to enroll early at the University of Louisville.
The junior split time between Ashley and the Philippines U17 national team last spring. She’s made an immediate impact since earning a starting role as a freshman at Ashley, finishing 2024 with 10 goals.
Now expected to take an even larger role in Ashley’s success, Bradley and her teammates have embraced a refined sense of chemistry this spring.
“Everybody pushes us even more,” she said. “It’s a different dynamic. We all knew it from the beginning, but we showed up every day and just grinded it out.”
Hoggard (10-1, 5-1) struck first as Andy Dabbs headed a wonderful corner kick deep into the net early in the first half. Bradley then worked her magic, scoring three goals in less than 10 minutes. Senior Savannah Manset scored the final goal.
For Ashley coach Erik Graf, navigating a new dynamic within his team has highlighted just how resilient his players are.
“We lost a lot,” Graf said of Ashley’s new personnel in the starting lineup. “This has been different in the sense that everybody kind of feels equal. Whoever steps up, (the team) is fine with it. The team coalesces around themselves and recognizes who’s on and what’s working.”
Despite two nonconference draws early this season, Ashley will now sit atop the Mideastern Conference and should ascend from its No. 3 spot in the NCHSAA 4A East RPI ranking.
“People don’t expect anything from us, but this is the year that we’ve got to prove it all,” Bradley said. “We’re just gonna battle it out and see how far we can go.”
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