Lexington SC won the 2025-26 USL Super League final on Saturday, coming from behind to defeat the Carolina Ascent, 3-1 in extra time.
The victory completed the worst-to-first season Lexington and clinched the double for the team that also won the Players' Shield. Lexington is the first team to win the both the Shield and the final in the second year of the USL Super League, which is sanctioned by U.S. Soccer as a first division women's league alongside the NWSL.
Defender Regan Steigleder scored the winning goal in the 96th minute, heading in a ball directly off a corner kick. It was the first goal of the season for Steigleder, who previously played for the NWSL's Kansas City Current. She was named player of the match.
Eight minutes later, Addie McCain added a third goal for Lexington on a counterattack.
"This group earned it," McCain said after the match. "The way we play, the way we showed up every day, how we handled the highs and the lows -- I think we truly earned it. We showed it tonight."
Lexington finished last of eight teams in the USL Super League's inaugural season, losing 18 of 28 games.
The team overhauled its roster in the offseason and brought in top players from around the league, including McCain, who lost last year's final with Fort Lauderdale United.
Lexington head coach Kosuke Kimura lauded his team's resolve after winning Saturday's final.
"The winning mentality," Kimura said. "They know they can win, they know they can score. And they just keep going, keep going. Even in overtime -- I know they're tired. I told them it doesn't matter. Just keep doing what you guys are doing."
Carolina won the inaugural Players' Shield last season but lost in the semifinals of the 2024-25 playoffs.
Mia Corbin opened the scoring for Carolina on Saturday in first-half stoppage time with a left-footed strike from 20 yards.
McKenzie Weinert scored the equalizer in the 72nd minute, tapping in a low cross from league Golden Boot winner Catherine Barry. Barry had 20 goal contributions in the regular season.
Sporting club Jacksonville's Ashlyn Puerta was named the Player of the Year and Young Player of the Year. Puerta, a U.S. youth international, had 19 goal contributions.
