No team from outside of metro Atlanta has won a girls soccer state title in any classification other than the state’s smallest since the GHSA began holding championships in 1992.
Columbus of Class AAAAA is showing it might be a threat to change that this season.
The Blue Devils, who entered the week ranked No. 4, cruised to the 1-AAAAA title, outscoring their opponents 45-1 in six region games. But Columbus (12-1-1 going into Wednesday’s regular-season finale against sixth-ranked Alexander) also has some impressive victories in non-region games. The Blue Devils have knocked off Class AA No. 2 Lovett and AAAAAA schools North Paulding and Mill Creek, and tied AAAA No. 3 Woodward Academy.
Columbus picked up its biggest win of the season last Thursday when it beat AAAAA No. 2 Northgate 1-0. Sophomore Gigi Schorr scored the game’s only game.
“It doesn’t do us a lot of good to play teams that aren’t going to help make us better or we might not see in the state playoffs later on,” Blue Devils coach Russell Oliver told the Columbus Ledger-Enquirer after the game.
The only non-Atlanta area teams that have won state championships are Savannah County Day (2002 and 2006 in AA/A) and First Presbyterian of Macon (2011 and 2012 in A).
- Postseason time: The regular season came to an end on Wednesday, and the brackets for the upcoming state tournaments will be completed today or Friday. The first round of the state tournament will be held on Tuesday for Class AAAAAA, AAAAA and AAAA, and on April 30 for AAA, AA and A. The state championships will be held in Macon this year for the first time, on March 14-16 at Mercer University's Five Star Stadium.
- Region champions: Second-ranked Lassiter clinched the 5-AAAAAA championship with a 1-0 victory Saturday against fifth-ranked Walton, the defending region champion. Margot Richardson scored the game's only goal for Lassiter, which was the region runner-up last season before losing in the second round of the state playoffs. Other region champions in AAAAAA, who will be No. 1 seeds in the state tournament, are Tift County (Region 1), Lakeside-DeKalb (Region 2), Douglas County (Region 3), Harrison (Region 4), Lambert (Region 6), Collins Hill or Peachtree Ridge (Region 7) and Grayson (Region 8).
- National rankings: Harrison fell to No. 2 in the National Soccer Coaches Association of America rankings of spring teams, which were released on Tuesday. The Hoyas had been No. 1 in the NSCAA's first two polls but dropped behind New Trier of Winnetka, Ill., which moved up from the No. 3 spot. Other Georgia teams in the top 20 national rankings are No. 7 Marist and No. 10 McIntosh, which climbed four spots. Harrison, Marist and McIntosh are the top three teams in the Region II rankings (for schools in Georgia, Alabama and South Carolina) and are joined in the top 10 by No. 8 Grayson, No. 9 Buford and No. 10 Lambert.
