Chattahoochee is one of the big early surprises in AAAAAA boys soccer.
After missing the playoffs last season, the Cougars were off to a 9-0 start, heading into Tuesday’s game against Northview. Chattahoochee coach Les Meenan said momentum started building at the end of last season, when the Cougars won their last five matches, including a big win over third-ranked and playoff-bound Centennial.
"Our start has surprised everyone, including ourselves," Meenan, an Irishman in his 16th season at Chattahoochee, said. "But after we beat Lambert (3-2 on Feb. 27), I thought we could be pretty good."
Senior goalkeeper Dara Mansouri’s save on a penalty kick bolstered that big win. Senior midfielder Owen Ferreira and junior outside striker Shane Burke have thrived in a new formation that Meenan installed in the offseason.
“We’re much more fluid, less constrained,” Meenan said.
Rough region: Dawson County had a 1-0 lead against eventual AAA state champion St. Pius X with eight minutes to play in last year's playoffs. St. Pius scored on a penalty kick to force overtime and prevailed in 15 rounds of penalty kicks.
“It hurt,” Dawson County coach Jed Lacey said. “These kids felt the pain of that last year and that’s what they’re living on this year.”
The Tigers began the week ranked No. 1 in AAA, after an 8-2-1 start. They’ve picked up impressive wins over Blessed Trinity and The Walker School, with their only loss coming to ranked-AAAAAA power Wheeler. Lacey says the difficult non-region slate primed his team for one of the tougher regions in the state. Region 7-AAA began the week with three ranked teams: No. 1 Dawson County, No. 5 West Hall and No. 8 East Hall. Dawson County hosted West Hall on Tuesday.
Remembering a captain: A ceremony will be at Wednesday's game between Newton and Alcovy to remember Newton junior captain Carlvon Betts, who passed away March 11 from head injuries sustained in a car accident. The game will be held at 5:30 p.m., at Sharp Stadium in Covington. Newton coach Sam Noland said, Betts was one of the team's top playmakers and a college prospect. "He was one of our leaders," Noland said. "He was one of the kids that the younger kids looked up to."
Notes: Peachtree Ridge has a pair of junior goal-scorers off to hot starts. Through nine games, Won IL Lee has scored eight goals, and Sam Aiken has added six. … Both Southwest DeKalb and Towers began the week with two players ranked in the top 10 in DeKalb County in goals scored. Towers senior Kerry Mondesir leads the county with 15 goals, followed by Southwest DeKalb junior Seriki Sultan, who has 12 goals. Southwest DeKalb sophomore Machop Chol has eight goals, and Towers junior Michael Manning has scored seven times.
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