The higher-seeded teams dominated, as expected, in the first round of the girls soccer state playoffs last week.
All seven No. 1-ranked teams and the six defending champions that made this year’s field advanced to the second round, although a couple had close calls. Class AAAAAAA No. 1 Lassiter took a 2-1 lead in the first half and made it stand up in a victory over Kennesaw Mountain. Lassiter will play Campbell in the second round. Class AAAA St. Pius, ranked No. 3 and aiming for an unprecedented sixth consecutive state championship, held off Chestatee 2-1 and will play Cartersville in Round 2.
Overall, the No. 1 seeds went 51-5 and the No. 2 seeds were 37-19, meaning that the home teams won 79 percent of the first-round games.
Here’s a look back at the trends from the first week of the tournament and the storylines for Round 2, which begins Tuesday night:
*Dramatic finishes: Region 8-AAAAAAA champion Grayson, last year's state runner-up, scored twice in the final eight minutes, including the game-winner by Jordyn McCartney with 35.2 seconds remaining, to beat Norcross 3-2. … Region 3-AAAAAAA champion Hillgrove got a goal from Cassi MacLean off an assist from Aya Fakih with three seconds remaining to eliminate Etowah 2-1. … Dunwoody, the No. 3 seed from Region 7-AAAAAA, let a 1-0 lead slip away with five minutes remaining but scored the game-winner less than a minute into the second overtime to upset eighth-ranked Apalachee 2-1.
*Best region performances: Five regions, including two in Class AAAAAA, posted perfect 4-0 records in the first round. They were Region 3-AAAAAA (Lakeside-Evans, Greenbrier, Heritage-Conyers and Grovetown), 7-AAAAAA (Johns Creek, Pope, Dunwoody and Alpharetta), 4-AAAA (Woodward Academy, Eastside, Druid Hills and Salem), 5-AA (Lamar County, Callaway, Temple and Spencer) and 8-A (Hebron Christian, Wesleyan, Towns County and Lakeview Academy). Those also were the only five regions that had a No. 4 seed advance to the second round.
*Public-school representative: Towns County became the first Class A public-school girls team to win a playoff game since the GHSA separated Classes AA and A for the playoffs in 2011 when it eliminated Christian Heritage 5-0 in Dalton. The other five public-school teams that made the field – Drew Charter, Lake Oconee Academy, Morris Innovative, Trion and Treutlen – lost by a combined score of 48-0. Next year, the GHSA will hold separate playoffs for Class A public schools and private schools. No public school has ever won the championship in the lowest classification.
*Best second-round games: Third-ranked Greater Atlanta Christian will host No. 2 Lovett at 6 p.m. Tuesday for the right to advance to the Class AAA quarterfinals. Both teams have won three state championships, most recently in 2015 by GAC and 2016 by Lovett. GAC won its three championships in four years between 2012 and 2015. … Class AAAAAAA will feature two matchups between top-10 teams. Seventh-ranked Forsyth Central will travel to No. 2 Parkview, and No. 10 Brookwood will play at third-ranked Milton. … An excellent matchup in Class A will pit No. 4 Savannah Country Day against No. 1 Athens Academy in Athens.
*Second-round matchups:
Class AAAAAAA
(R5 #2) Forsyth Central at (R7 #1) Parkview
(R1 #2) Camden County at (R3 #1) Hillgrove
(R5 #3) West Forsyth at (R8 #1) Grayson
(R2 #2) Campbell at (R4 #1) Lassiter
(R7 #2) Brookwood at (R5 #1) Milton
(R4 #3) Roswell) at (R1 #1) Tift County
(R8 #2) Rockdale County at (R6 #1) Peachtree Ridge
(R4 #2) Walton at (R2 #1) East Coweta
Class AAAAAA
(R5 #2) Alexander at (R7 #1) Johns Creek
(R2 #3) Richmond Hill at (R3 #1) Lakeside-Evans
(R7 #4) Alpharetta at (R6 #2) Harrison
(R3 #4) Grovetown at (R2 #2) Effingham County
(R7 #2) Pope at (R5 #1) Northgate
(R3 #2) Greenbrier at (R1 #1) Lee County
(R7 #3) Dunwoody at (R6 #1) Creekview
(R3 #3) Heritage-Conyers at (R2 #1) Glynn Academy
Class AAAAA
(R6 #3) Grady at (R7 #1) Carrollton
(R1 #2) Harris County at (R3 #1) McIntosh
(R6 #2) Riverwood at (R8 #1) Flowery Branch
(R1 #3) Warner Robins at (R4 #1) Union Grove
(R8 #3) Johnson-Gainesville at (R5 #1) Chamblee
(R3 #2) Starr’s Mill at (R1 #1) Veterans
(R8 #2) Buford at (R6 #1) Decatur
(R3 #3) Whitewater at (R2 #1) Statesboro
Class AAAA
(R5 #2) Sandy Creek at (R7 #1) Blessed Trinity
(R4 #4) Salem at (R1 #2) Columbus
(R5 #3) Cartersville at (R8 #1) St. Pius
(R2 #2) Mary Persons at (R4 #1) Woodward Academy
(R7 #2) Marist at (R5 #1) LaGrange
(R4 #3) Druid Hills at (R1 #1) Northside-Columbus
(R7 #3) White County at (R6 #1) Northwest Whitfield
(R4 #2) Eastside at (R2 #1) Spalding
Class AAA
(R5 #2) Lovett at (R7 #1) Greater Atlanta Christian
(R1 #2) Worth County at (R3 #1) Islands
(R5 #3) Pace Academy at (R8 #1) Jackson County
(R2 #2) Long County at (R4 #1) Pike County
(R7 #2) Dawson County at (R5 #1) Westminster
(R3 #2) Savannah Arts at (R1 #1) Crisp County
(R7 #3) Lumpkin County at (R6 #1) Bremen
(R4 #2) Rutland at (R2 #1) Pierce County
Class AA
(R5 #2) Callaway at (R7 #1) Model
(R1 #2) Thomasville at (R3 #1) East Laurens
(R5 #3) Temple at (R8 #1) Oglethorpe County
(R2 #2) Vidalia at (R4 #1) Harlem
(R8 #3) Rabun County at (R5 #1) Lamar County
(R4 #3) Johnson-Savannah at (R1 #1) Fitzgerald
(R5 #4) Spencer at (R8 #2) Elbert County
(R4 #2) Screven County at (R2 #1) St. Vincent’s Academy
Class A
(A8 #4) Lakeview Academy at (A5 #2) Mount Pisgah Christian
(A1 #2) Savannah Country Day at (A3 #1) Athens Academy
(A5 #3) Pinecrest Academy at (A8 #1) Hebron Christian
(A2 #2) Brookstone at (A4 #1) Eagle’s Landing Christian
(A8 #3) Towns County at (A5 #1) Walker
(A3 #2) Prince Avenue Christian at (A1 #1) Calvary Day
(A8 #2) Wesleyan at (A6 #1) Paideia
(A4 #2) Atlanta International at (A2 #1) First Presbyterian
