Hilton Head siblings help carry college soccer teams to conference wins — on the same day
On Nov. 22, just minutes after scoring the goal that pushed No. 2 Clemson men’s soccer over No. 1 Pittsburgh in the ACC championship, redshirt sophomore James Brighton stepped into the locker room in Cary, N.C., and flipped on the TV.
His sister, Abi, was playing for Vanderbilt in the SEC women’s soccer championship in Orange Beach, Ala. With 37 minutes to go, the freshman, 18, scored the final goal against No. 6 Arkansas with a strike from 20 yards out that hit the crossbar before falling inside the box.
Vandy won 3-1.
“It was a huge day for my family,” James, 20, said. “Those tournaments are really difficult to win, so it doesn’t happen often, and the fact that we were able to do it on the same day was super exciting for my parents, myself and my sister.”
When she won, Abi went to give her dad a hug. He had news for her.
“He told me that James won as well and scored the goal, and that just made it 10 times better because he was in the back of my mind from the start, hoping that he was doing well, too,” she said. “I know that they deserved it as well, so that just made the moment 10 times more special to know that my brother was experiencing the same feeling that I was experiencing.”
Now, the Brighton kids are back home in Hilton Head for Thanksgiving. Due to COVID-19 precautions for collegiate athletes, James hasn’t been home or seen his family since May.
“We had to be super careful and strict with who we saw and what we did because we were getting tested for the virus three times a week,” he said. They could shut “the season down if too many people got sick.”
A team captain, James Brighton has helped his team win with 10 goals and many more assists in the two seasons he has played. A forward, he brought the Tigers to a 2-1 finish against No. 1 Pittsburgh in the ACC championship Nov. 22 with a header into goal.
“It’s definitely the hardest thing I’ve done in my life so far, just being so responsible for 28 other guys on and off the field,” James said. “We all live together, and it’s not just soccer that I have to lead in — it’s school, behavior.”
A graduate of Rivers Academy in Atlanta, he has been named to the ACC Academic Honor Roll for the past two years.
Abi, a midfielder, has already made a splash in her first three months at Vanderbilt, and has started in each of their games this season. A member of the SEC’s All-Tournament and All-Freshman teams, Abi scored a goal against Mississippi State in the second round of the SEC tournament Nov. 15 that earned third place on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays.
She is a graduate of Heritage Academy on Hilton Head Island, where she was captain of the soccer team from 2012 to 2018.
Because of COVID-19, Abi said, it had initially been difficult to get to know the other players on the team. But once they went to Orange Beach, Ala., for the tournament, it became much easier to intermingle.
“Staying with them, basically doing everything together — we genuinely had fun,” Abi said. “Our team chemistry was 10 times better, which I think helped us get to where we got to.”
With the NCAA tournament on hold until after the spring 2021 season, Abi and James are celebrating with their parents and younger sister at home. But, James said, they won’t be doing anything crazy to toast their wins.
“The biggest celebration for us was to be able to come home, finally,” he said. “That’s been our celebration, just being able to see our parents and our younger sister and be together and see each other in person for the first time in so long. That’s enough for me.”
This story was originally published November 27, 2020 at 12:01 PM.
