Here are some of the top stories in girls soccer this week:
*Lions extend winning streak: Peachtree Ridge, the No. 5 team in Class AAAAAA in the most recent Eurosport rankings, finished off an important week heading into spring break with a 3-1 victory against North Gwinnett on Thursday that kept the Lions alone in first place in 7-AAAAAA. Amanda Ferry scored twice and Allie Hoxie added a goal for the Lions (11-1, 5-0), who have won 10 consecutive games since a 2-0 loss to No. 3 Parkview on Feb. 25. Peachtree Ridge beat No. 6 Duluth 1-0 on a goal by Jordyn Missel on Tuesday in a battle for first place in the region. The Lions head to South Carolina next week to play Charleston-area schools Bishop England (5:30 p.m. Thursday) and Wando (11 a.m. Saturday).
*Gwinnett domination: Peachtree Ridge is one of several teams from Gwinnett County that appear to have a legitimate shot of winning the AAAAAA championship this season. Six of the top eight teams in the Eurosport rankings are from the county – No. 1 Grayson, No. 3 Parkview, No. 4 Brookwood, No. 5 Peachtree Ridge, No. 6 Duluth and No. 8 Collins Hill. A Gwinnett County team has won or shared the championship in the highest classification in seven of the past nine seasons. Second-ranked Harrison, which won the title in 2011 and lost to Parkview 2-1 in the championship game last season, is the only non-Gwinnett team ranked in the top six.
*Battle for first place: Class AAAAA No. 8 Heritage-Conyers took over sole possession of first place in Region 8 with a 2-1 victory Thursday against sixth-ranked Gainesville, which suffered its first region loss. Sara Boggus scored the game-winning goal in the second half, and goalkeeper Mady Carter made the lead hold up in the tense final minutes. Carter recently signed with Kennesaw State, where she'll be joined in the freshman class by Allatoona's Ashtah Das and Shaw's Abby Roth. Heritage can complete a perfect region season and wrap up the No. 1 seed for the playoffs with a victory against No. 7 Loganville on April 22.
*Noteworthy: St. Vincent's Academy of Savannah has won eight consecutive matches since starting the season 0-2 with losses to First Presbyterian and Richmond Hill. The Saints, ranked No. 5 in Class AA, have outscored their opponents 62-2 during the winning streak and are led in scoring by Sarah Stewart (17 goals) and Emily Drown (14 goals). ... One team that's a bit under the radar this season is Tift County, which beat Valdosta 5-0 on Tuesday to improve to 13-0 overall and 5-0 in Region 1-AAAAAA but remains unranked. The Blue Devils were the No. 2 seed from their region last year and lost in the state quarterfinals to Parkview 4-0.
