The Truist Soccer Complex at Bryan Park in Browns Summit is once again the center of Division II college soccer this week, as the Conference Carolinas championships bring a roster of Triad-born talent back to home turf. Women's play began Thursday, and men's matches started Friday, with several local products from Winston-Salem, Kernersville, Greensboro, Germanton and Summerfield suiting up for Lees-McRae, Barton and UNC Pembroke.
The event is an NCAA Division II championship, according to WXII 12 News, and it's being staged on Townsend Road in Browns Summit, a site that's become something of a tradition for Guilford County. The station reports Guilford County has hosted the tournament for four consecutive years, giving local fans a rare chance to watch Division II soccer talent without leaving the Triad.
Bryan Park has served as a Conference Carolinas soccer finals site since at least 2023, when the league scheduled both the semifinals and finals there. The complex is also part of a broader regional soccer-tourism calendar: in 2023, Greensboro listed the Conference Carolinas tournament among numerous soccer events and projected $60 million in economic impact and 85,000 hotel-room nights for that year’s soccer events combined—not for this championship alone. The city’s event calendar and impact estimate put the tournament in that wider context.
The finals are the culmination of two 12-team brackets, not a single-game showcase: in both tournaments, the top four seeds advanced directly to the quarterfinals, while earlier rounds were played at campus sites. The semifinals and finals move to Bryan Park, where the conference titles are decided. The format is reflected in the conference’s women’s bracket and men’s bracket.
Per the station's reporting, women's play returns to the field Saturday, while men's matches continue Sunday. A separate Conference Carolinas search listing cites the 2026 final site dates as November 5 and 7 at Bryan Park, a detail that doesn't line up with the station's Sunday men's date — so the exact closing schedule should be confirmed directly with Conference Carolinas before heading out.
Winston-Salem and Kernersville Natives Lead the Men's Side
On the men's side, Lees-McRae's roster includes a trio of Triad natives. Owen Smith, a senior from Winston-Salem and a graduate of West Forsyth High School, plays alongside freshman Campden Bishop, also from Winston-Salem and West Forsyth. Rounding out the group is sophomore Conner Panico of Kernersville, a graduate of East Forsyth High School, the station's report notes.
Barton's side features its own Winston-Salem connection in sophomore forward Alessandro Mendoza, per the same account. The presence of so many local products across multiple programs underscores how deep the Triad's youth soccer pipeline has become in recent years.
Local Defenders and a Greensboro Goalkeeper Anchor the Women's Bracket
The women's bracket carries its own hometown storylines. Lees-McRae sophomore defender Payton Barbee hails from Germanton and graduated from South Stokes High School, while freshman defender Ava Franklin, of Summerfield, is a Northwest Guilford High School graduate — both according to the station's reporting.
UNC Pembroke's roster adds another Northwest Guilford alum to the mix: sophomore goalkeeper Addison Ellsworth, who is from Greensboro. Her presence in net gives the host region a direct stake in how the women's championship plays out this weekend.
Getting to Bryan Park
Fans looking to catch the action can find the complex on Townsend Road in Browns Summit, and tickets are available through Conference Carolinas, the station reports. With the tournament's multi-year run in Guilford County and a lineup stacked with hometown names, this weekend's finals offer local soccer fans a front-row seat to Division II competition without ever leaving the Triad.
