Fifty-seven of a possible 63 region champions survived a relatively uneventful opening week of the girls soccer state playoffs and advanced to the second round, which begins Monday night.
Classes 7A, 5A, 3A, A Private and A Public will resume play Monday, while classes 6A, 4A and 2A will be back in action beginning Wednesday. The eight winners in each classification will move on to the quarterfinals, to be played next Monday.
In all, No. 1 seeds went 53-6 last week.
The only region champion in the highest classification to be eliminated in the first round was Region 1′s Lowndes, which lost to North Paulding 4-1. Other No. 1 seeds making an early exit were Dalton (5-6A), which lost to River Ridge 2-0; Ola (4-5A), which lost to Northgate 7-0; Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe (6-3A), which lost to Monroe Area 4-2; Mount Paran Christian (7-A Private), which lost to Atlanta International 4-1; and Atkinson County (2-A Public), which lost to Montgomery County 2-0. None was considered a major upset.
The biggest names to fall in the first round were the five top-10 teams that were knocked out, three of which lost to higher-ranked teams. Three of the losses by ranked teams came in Class A Public, where No. 5 Armuchee lost to No. 4 Towns County 1-0; No. 7 Lake Oconee Academy lost to Atlanta Classical 8-0; and No. 8 Atkinson County lost to unranked Montgomery County 2-0.
The other ranked teams that were eliminated were Class No. 10 Cairo, which lost to New Hampstead 2-1, and Class 3A No. 7 White County, which lost to No. 2 Greater Atlanta Christian 5-0.
Four more region champions – Thomas County Central of 1-4A, Pinecrest Academy of 6-A Private, Screven County of 3-A Public, and Chattahoochee County of 5-A Public – had first-round byes and will begin their playoff journeys this week.
The other region unaccounted for, 1-A Public, did not send teams to the playoffs.
Four regions got all four of their playoff teams through to the second round.
In Class 7A, Region 3′s Walton, Harrison, Hillgrove and North Paulding advanced. Walton, Harrison and Hillgrove are ranked in the top seven in the class.
Region 7-6A teams Cambridge, Chattahoochee, Johns Creek and River Ridge are still standing. So are McIntosh, Starr’s Mill, Northside-Columbus and Northgate from Region 2-5A.
The four teams from Region 3-A Public advanced through byes because of the lack of playoff teams from Region 1. Screven County, Claxton, McIntosh County Academy and Metter will play their first playoff games this week.
The seven No. 1-ranked teams that played last week cruised into the second round. Denmark, Buford, Chamblee, North Oconee, Westminster, Lovett and Social Circle outscored their first-round opponents 62-0. Pinecrest Academy, the No. 1 team in A Private, had a bye.
Second-round matchups:
(Games beginning Monday)
Class 7A
(R3 #2) Harrison at (R5 #1) Alpharetta
(R8 #2) Peachtree Ridge at (R2 #1) Campbell
(R3 #3) Hillgrove at (R7 #1) Dunwoody
(R6 #2) West Forsyth at (R4 #1) Brookwood
(R4 #2) Parkview at (R6 #1) Denmark
(R5 #2) Roswell at (R3 #1) Walton
(R2 #2) East Coweta at (R8 #1) Mill Creek
(R3 #3) North Paulding at (R7 #2) Norcross
Class 5A
(R1 #3) Ware County at (R5 #1) Chamblee
(R8 #2) Loganville at (R2 #1) McIntosh
(R1 #2) Coffee at (R7 #1) Blessed Trinity
(R2 #4) Northgate at (R8 #3) Greenbrier
(R2 #3) Northside-Columbus at (R6 #1) Midtown
(R5 #2) St. Pius at (R3 #1) Woodward Academy
(R2 #2) Starr’s Mill at (R8 #1) Jackson County
(R5 #3) Decatur at (R1 #1) Veterans
Class 3A
(R3 #2) Southeast Bulloch at (R5 #1) Westminster
(R6 #3) Coahulla Creek at (R2 #1) Jackson
(R1 #2) Appling County at (R7 #1) Cherokee Bluff
(R8 #3) Stephens County at (R4 #1) Morgan County
(R8 #4) Monroe Area at (R2 #3) Mary Persons
(R5 #2) Greater Atlanta Christian at (R3 #1) Savannah Arts Academy
(R2 #2) Pike County at (R8 #1) Oconee County
(R7 #2) Lumpkin County at (R1 #1) Pierce County
Class A Private
(R3 #2) Savannah Country Day at (R5 #1) Holy Innocents’
(R6 #3) Lakeview Academy at (R2 #1) Paideia
(R5 #4) Atlanta International at (R1 #2) First Presbyterian
(R6 #2) Fellowship Christian at (R4 #1) Brookstone
(R4 #2) Trinity Christian at (R6 #1) Pinecrest Academy
(R5 #2) Wesleyan at (R3 #1) St. Vincent’s Academy
(R2 #2) Whitefield Academy at (R8 #1) Athens Academy
(R5 #3) Mount Vernon at (R1 #1) Stratford Academy
Class A Public
(R3 #2) Claxton at (R5 #1) Chattahoochee County
(R4 #4) Montgomery County at (R8 #2) Commerce
(R3 #3) McIntosh County Academy at (R7 #1) ACE Charter
(R8 #3) Towns County at (R4 #1) Treutlen
(R4 #2) Johnson County at (R6 #1) Atlanta Classical
(R7 #3) Georgia Military at (R3 #1) Screven County
(R2 #2) Irwin County at (R8 #1) Social Circle
(R3 #4) Metter at (R7 #2) Crawford County
(Games beginning Wednesday)
Class 6A
(R7 #4) River Ridge at (R3 #2) Evans
(R8 #2) Habersham Central at (R2 #1) Richmond Hill
(R3 #3) Heritage-Conyers at (R7 #1) Cambridge
(R6 #2) Pope at (R4 #1) North Atlanta
(R4 #2) Lakeside-DeKalb at (R6 #1) Lassiter
(R7 #3) Johns Creek at (R3 #1) Lakeside-Evans
(R2 #2) Glynn Academy at (R8 #1) Buford
(R7 #2) Chattahoochee at (R1 #1) Houston County
Class 4A
(R3 #2) New Hampstead at (R5 #1) Luella
(R8 #2) Jefferson at (R2 #1) Columbus
(R1 #2) Bainbridge at (R7 #1) Northwest Whitfield
(R8 #3) Madison County at (R4 #1) Perry
(R4 #2) Spalding at (R6 #1) Marist
(R7 #3) Southeast Whitfield at (R3 #1) Islands
(R2 #2) LaGrange at (R8 #1) North Oconee
(R7 #2) Heritage-Catoosa at (R1 #1) Thomas County Central
Class 2A
(R3 #2) Bleckley County at (R5 #1) Bremen
(R8 #2) Elbert County at (R2 #1) Jeff Davis
(R1 #2) Thomasville at (R7 #1) Fannin County
(R6 #2) Pace Academy at (R4 #1) Oglethorpe County
(R4 #2) Putnam County at (R6 #1) Lovett
(R7 #3) Dade County at (R3 #1) Lamar County
(R2 #2) East Laurens at (R8 #1) Union County
(R7 #2) Model at (R1 #1) Fitzgerald
About the Author
