Sink shines in Clash of Carolinas soccer classic

Published 11:28 am Tuesday, July 8, 2025

By Brian Pitts
Enterprise Record

In an all-star soccer game that matched the best seniors from North Carolina against the top seniors from South Carolina, Davie’s Jaden Sink did what she does. She met the challenge and then some.
The 19th-annual Clash of the Carolinas was held June 21 in Charlotte. NC dominated 6-1.
“I’m sure every kid there is playing college ball in the fall,” said Corbin Kopetzky, who coached Davie girls soccer for four years before recently resigning and moving to Virginia. “They played her at right back for a little bit and she held her own. She moved the ball up and down the field. In the second half, she played more center back where her home has been for four years at Davie. That’s where she plays at in club ball, and that’s where they recruited her to play at Miami of Ohio. So she got to showcase herself at both positions.”
Kopetzky estimated that Sink played 60-65 minutes out of 90. She just missed scoring off a corner kick.
“She almost had a goal,” he said. “She headed one and it barely missed over the crossbar off a corner. She showed up with the best in the state and did her thing.”
“You don’t have time to really prove yourself to a coach, so I went in with lower expectations,” Sink said. “It was more than I expected. I was able to adjust well (to right back) and that is probably why I got as many minutes as I did. Because it’s a lot of running and not a bunch of people wanted to do that.”
Sink delivered a highlight-reel career for the War Eagles, starting on varsity all four years, making the all-state team twice and earning CPC Defensive Player of the Year in 2025. She was also selected to play for the West in the East-West All-Star Game at Grimsley on July 22, but she had to decline the invitation because she will move into Miami (Ohio) University the week before. So the Clash was the punctation mark on Sink’s prep career.
“Avery Yount was our first in the East-West All-Star Game, and Jaden would have been the second from Davie to play in it,” Kopetzky said. “As far as I know, she’s the first to play in the Clash. She’s one of the best ever to come through Davie High, and I’m proud to have been her coach for four years. To watch her cap it off in an event like this is a really cool experience.”
“It was a big honor and it was really good for me because I was selected for the East-West Game but I’m not able to play in that,” Sink said. “I was just glad I got that opportunity because it ended up being a lot of girls that I’ve grown up playing club soccer against and it was the best of the best.”
Sink was the complete package for the War Eagles – on and off the field.
“She’s an all-around person,” Kopetzky said. “She really likes to nurture the younger players. She can be a goofball, but when it’s time to get serious she can turn the seriousness on. She’s friendly and she tries to guide the younger players forward. As a student, she was a Junior Marshal. She’s got over a 4.0 (GPA); it’s a 4.3 or 4.4. She volunteers in her free time.”
Now Sink is preparing for her Division-I career in Oxford, Ohio.
“I’m hoping to play and see the field as much as I can (as a freshman),” Sink said. “They sent us our summer fitness packet. As long as I go in fit and strong, I’ll hopefully get as many minutes as possible.”
Meanwhile, Kopetzky is in a transition of his own, moving with his wife to Roanoke, Va. He will be a history teacher at Cave Spring High. He plans to take a break from coaching.
“They asked me if I would coach,” he said. “We’ve been married five months and I told them I’ve got to be a husband first. I’m ready to take a little bit of a break.”