As Centennial’s Bryan Wallace says, state championships are not won and lost in March. Nonetheless, the week ahead is a pivotal one for the Knights boys lacrosse team.
Third-ranked Centennial (7-1) faces a pair of crucial games in a tightly packed Area 3-AAAAAA this week, traveling to No. 6 Northview (7-1) on Wednesday and hosting No. 2 Lambert (8-1) on Saturday.
“It’s obviously a big week,” said Wallace, Centennial’s director of lacrosse and head community coach. “Three teams all in the same area, all with one loss. We’ve played Northview in the past and had some success when they were in AAAAA, and we’ve been battling back and forth with Lambert for the area title for the past couple of years. It’s going to be two tough games, but we’re looking to do well and come out with a 2-0 week.”
The Knights won the state championship in 2013 and have won the Area 3 title in back-to-back years, but the league could come down to a four-team race this year, as Area 3 is home to the top three teams in AAAAAA and four of the top six. Centennial fell to top-ranked Johns Creek in early March, but a 15-14 win over Lovett (No. 2 Class A-AAAAA) on March 21 has the Knights feeling confident.
“We were able to play great defense and get the win against Lovett,” Wallace said. “That maybe tipped our hand a little bit with the zone defense we’ve been working on for the last month and a half, but we’ve been playing well. We’ve got a great senior goalkeeper in Austin Skorb and a lot of young guys on the defensive end who are stepping up to help us out.”
Offense hasn’t been a problem for the Knights. Spearheaded by Syracuse commit Nathan Solomon, one of the top players in the state, Centennial is averaging 18.5 goals per game, and has topped 20 in five of their eight games. Solomon is one of only 11 players who have topped 500 career points, Wallace said, and draws most of opposing teams’ attention.
“But we’re not a one-trick pony,” Wallace added.
With Army signee Zach Levy patrolling the midfield, and Nicky Solomon and Brendan Spence aiding in the attack, the Knights boast a multitude of offensive threats.
They’ll likely be called upon this week. Northview is the defending Class A-AAAAA state champ, whose only loss this year came against Lambert. Lambert is the defending AAAAAA runner-up who has yielded more than six goals only once this season – in last week’s 2014 state title rematch loss to Roswell.
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BOYS
Class AAAAAA
1. Johns Creek (7-2)
- Tuesday: def. Alpharetta, 13-6
- Saturday: at South Forsyth
2. Lambert (8-1)
- Tuesday: def. Chattahoochee, 13-3
- Saturday: at No. 3 Centennial
3. Centennial (7-1)
- Wednesday: at No. 6 Northview
- Saturday: vs. No. 2 Lambert
4. Roswell (8-1)
- Tuesday: def. West Forsyth, 18-7
- Thursday at Milton
- Friday vs. North Cobb
5. Pope (7-2)
- March 31 at Milton
6. Northview (7-1)
- Wednesday vs. No. 3 Centennial
- Saturday vs. No. 9 Mill Creek
7. Lassiter (8-2)
- Friday at Grayson
8. Walton (5-5)
- Saturday: at No. 5 Pope
9. Mill Creek (9-1)
- Tuesday: def. South Forsyth, 14-4
- Saturday at No. 6 Northview
10. Harrison (6-3)
- Friday vs. Kennesaw Mountain
Class A-AAAAA
1. Westminster (9-1)
- Saturday: vs. Walton
2. Lovett (5-3)
- Tuesday: def. Grady, 23-3
- Thursday at No. 10 Starr's Mill
- Saturday vs. No. 4 McIntosh
3. Allatoona (8-0)
- Friday at Pace Academy
4. McIntosh (8-1)
- Tuesday: lost to Marist, 5-4
- Saturday at No. 2 Lovett
5. Cambridge (8-1)
- Saturday vs. West Forsyth
6. Greater Atlanta Christian (7-2)
- Tuesday: lost to Blessed Trinity, 10-9
- Friday vs. Decatur
7. Wesleyan (4-1)
- Friday at Riverwood
8. Benedictine (5-2)
- Friday at North Atlanta
9. St. Pius (6-2)
- Thursday at Druid Hills
- Saturday at North Springs
10. Starr’s Mill (7-3)
- Thursday vs. No. 2 Lovett
GIRLS
Class AAAAAA
1. Milton (5-1)
- Wednesday vs. Wheeler
- Friday vs. Suffern (NY)
- Saturday vs. Radnor (Pa.)
2. Lassiter (6-0)
- Tuesday at North Cobb (no score reported)
- Thursday vs. No. 8 Pope
- Saturday vs. Bartram Trail (Fla.)
3. Mill Creek (5-1)
- Friday vs. Seymour (Tenn.)
4. Walton (6-2)
- Saturday vs. Upper Arlington (Ohio)
5. Chattahoochee (6-3)
- Thursday vs. North Forsyth
6. Northview (5-2)
- Monday: Def. No. 7 Lambert, 14-13
- Friday at John's Creek
7. Lambert (3-3)
- Monday: Lost to No. 6 Northview, 14-13
- Wednesday: at No. 9 Harrison
8. Pope (6-2)
- Tuesday: def. Wheeler, 21-0
- Thursday: at No. 2 Lassiter
9. Harrison (4-2)
- Wednesday: at No. 7 Lambert
- Friday: at Hillgrove
10. North Gwinnett (6-2)
- Wednesday: at South Forsyth
Class A-AAAAA
1. Cambridge (9-0)
- Tuesday: def. GAC, 19-5
- Wednesday: at Pinecrest Academy
- Friday: at No. 9 Wesleyan
2. Westminster (8-0)
- Friday: vs. Upper Arlington (Ohio)
- Saturday: vs. Hutchinson (Tenn.)
3. Blessed Trinity (7-1)
- Wednesday: at Holy Innocents'
- Friday: vs. Buford
4. Kell (4-2)
- Thursday: at Sprayberry
- Saturday: vs. Bartram Trail (Fla.)
5. St. Pius (9-0)
- Tuesday: def. North Atlanta, 20-2
- Thursday at Marist
- Saturday vs. Upper Arlington (Ohio)
6. Creekview (6-1)
- Tuesday: def. Darlington, 18-3
- Thursday: at East Paulding
7. Lakeside-Evans (7-1)
- Saturday vs. Decatur
8. McIntosh (6-3)
- Wednesday: at Grady
9. Wesleyan (4-3)
- Wednesday: vs. Forsyth Central
- Friday: vs. No. 1 Cambridge
10. River Ridge (3-1)
- Tuesday: Lost to Kell, 22-7
- Thursday: at Pace Academy
- Saturday: at Allatoona
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Brent Holloway can be reached via Twitter @thebholloway
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