The past two years, Collins Hill has drawn powerhouses in the opening round of the playoffs and, as a result, made quick exits.

This year would be slightly different as the Eagles drew No. 4 North Cobb, a Class AAAAA semifinalist last year: Powerhouse in opening round, no early exit.

The Eagles, toughened by previous years' experiences at last, pulled out a thrilling 2-1 win on Tuesday to advance to the second round.

"We always draw a tough team," Eagles coach Stan Carpenter said. "We had Brookwood and Walton in the first round and this year we drew another stud team. We're just glad to be going to the next round."

The No. 7 Eagles (15-4), who won their ninth in a row, had just as many studs as North Cobb (13-3). But in the end, Ricky Ortega's goal with 13 minutes left proved to be the game-winner.

North Cobb had tied the score at 1-1 just seven minutes earlier and with both defenses playing outstanding, overtime appeared likely. But Ortega corralled a ball that popped out from North Cobb keeper Nick Schaibly and tapped it in for an easy goal.

"They had a magic goal and we had a mistake," said a dejected North Cobb coach Erik Fridborg. "And we didn't finish. You could tell [Collins Hill] wanted to win. We knew they had some weapons."

—- Robert Haddocks

STATE SCOREBOARD

Class AAAAA

Brookwood 1, Northview 0

Camden County 2, Tift County 1

Centennial 1, Parkview 0

Collins Hill 2, North Cobb 1

Colquitt County 1, Bradwell Institute 0

East Coweta 2, Lithonia 1

Etowah 3, Norcross 2

Harrison 3, South Forsyth 2

Hiram 1, Union Grove 0

Houston County 7, Johnson-Savannah 0

Peachtree Ridge 1, Campbell 0

Walton 2, Central Gwinnett 0

Warner Robins 9, Savannah Arts 0

Class AAAA

Alexander 4, Lakeview-Fort Oglethorpe 0

Dacula 3, Tucker 1

Dalton 5, Cherokee 2

Evans 3, Bainbridge 0

Greenbrier 15, Americus-Sumter 0

Hillgrove 2, Rome 1

Lakeside-DeKalb 2, Heritage 0

Marist 3, Habersham Central 2

Southeast Whitfield 3, Sequoyah 0

Starr's Mill 8, Northside-Warner Robins 0

Woodward Academy 4, Forest Park 3

GIRLS SOCCER STATE PLAYOFFS

Class AAAA

Greenbrier 15, Bainbridge 0