Parkview has one of the hottest girls soccer teams in the state, having won nine consecutive matches (outscoring its opponents 52-1 during that stretch) and climbing to No. 2 in the Score Atlanta Class AAAAAAA rankings.
But for the Panthers to secure the region title and No. 1 seed in 7-AAAAAAA, they will need to beat rival Brookwood when the teams meet at 6 p.m. Friday at Parkview in a game that will settle the region championship.
“This is a game that you look forward to all season,” Brookwood coach Chad Carithers said. “The girls have been playing good and have been working hard all season. When you play in a big rivalry game, it’s going to come down to which team wants it the most and which team makes the fewest mistakes. Parkview has good players and is coached very well, so we will have to be at our best. If we play like we have been playing all season, then this Friday’s game should be another great game in one of the best rivalries in high school soccer.”
Parkview 14-1-1 overall and 5-0 in the region. The Panthers’ only blemishes this season were a 2-1 loss to sixth-ranked Peachtree Ridge on Feb. 23 and a 1-1 tie against Oak Mountain (Ala.) on March 9. Parkview won a region championship in 2016 but saw the Broncos wrestle the title away last season.
Brookwood had won eight of its previous 10 matches before playing in the Southern Coast Cup last week in Foley, Ala., where it went 1-1-1. The Broncos beat Oak Mountain (3-2), played to a 1-1 draw against Norman North, Okla., and lost to Rockwood Summit, Mo. (2-1). Still, the Broncos are 10-4-1 overall (4-0 in the region) and ranked No. 8.
Parkview has won eight state championships, most recently in 2013. Brookwood won a state title in 1998 and shared the championship with Parkview in 2003.
*Southern Coast Cup: Brookwood was one of four Georgia teams that competed in the Southern Coast Cup last week. The Broncos, Westminster, Discovery and LaFayette combined to win three matches, with eight losses and a tie. Westminster, the top-ranked team in Class AAA, suffered its first losses of the year, dropping contests against Eureka, Mo. (4-2), Charlotte Latin, N.C. (1-0) and McGill-Toolen Catholic, Ala. (1-0). The three-time defending state champion Wildcats (10-3-2) will face Pace Academy on Friday and Lovett next Tuesday in games that will determine the Region 5-AAA champion. Discovery and LaFayette both went 1-2 last week against Alabama teams in Cup competition.
*Splitting Class A: The Georgia High School Association's decision at its executive committee meeting on Monday to separate the Class A soccer playoffs into public-school and private-school divisions beginning next year will be a big boost to the state's smallest public schools. No public-school girls team has ever won a state soccer title in the lowest classification, and only three boys teams have done it (most recently by Thomasville in 2010, when Class AA and A teams were still combined into one tournament (Class A got its own tournament in 2011). Last season, only five public-school girls teams made the 32-team Class A playoffs, and those teams – Mount Zion-Carroll, Lake Oconee Academy, Towns County, Trion and Atkinson County – lost in the first round by a combined score of 41-0. "My initial reaction is positive," said Akil Rashid, boys and girls coach at public Drew Charter School. "In my opinion, this helps balance the playing field. While our boys team made the playoffs last year, we face private schools for the majority of our area matches. Overall I am happy with the switch, and I look forward to competitions with other Single A public schools."
*State rankings: After a week with a light schedule because of spring break throughout most of the state, there were few major changes in the Score Atlanta rankings that came out on Tuesday. All seven of the No. 1-ranked teams held on to their spots. Those teams are Lassiter in Class AAAAAAA, Johns Creek in AAAAAA, McIntosh in AAAAA, Blessed Trinity in AAAA, Westminster in AAA, St. Vincent's in AA, and Athens Academy in Class A. McIntosh, Westminster and St. Vincent's are defending state champions.
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