The first round of the boys GHSA state soccer championship begins Wednesday with 128 teams trying to advance to the state championship games on May 2-5.
We previewed opening matches for classes 6A-7A last week, so here’s how the ranked teams from the lower classifications landed in the brackets:
Class 5A
In the top-right quadrant, top-ranked McIntosh will face Cross Keys in the first round, and No. 3 Clarke Central will face Woodland-Cartersville. No. 4 Midtown will face Kell.
If McIntosh and Clark Central advance, we will face to face a top-5 matchup in the second round.
In the top-left quadrant, No. 2 Dalton will play Jefferson before a possible meeting with No. 7 Chapel Hill (vs. Chattahoochee in Round 1) in the second round. No. 5-ranked Greenbrier will face Eagle’s Landing to open the tournament.
Two ranked teams – No. 6 Villa Rica (vs. Cambridge in Round 1) and No. 10 Union Grove (vs. Ware County) are in the bottom-left quadrant. In the bottom-right, No. 8 Tucker (vs. Drew) and No. 9 Centennial (vs. Tri-Cities) begin play.
Class 4A
No. 1 Johnson-Gainesville (vs. Central-Carroll) is in the bottom-left quadrant with No. 8 Perry (vs. Hardaway). In the bottom-right quadrant, No. 2 Westminster will play Stockbridge, and No. 3 Southeast Whitfield will begin its tournament against No. 6 Chestatee. In the top-right quadrant, No. 4 Lovett (vs. Clarkston) and No. 5 East Hall (vs. Cedartown) will play a top-5 matchup in the second round if each advances.
Class 3A
Top-ranked Columbus (vs. Mary Persons) joins No. 4 Bremen (vs. Douglass) and No. 5 Wesleyan (vs. Hart County) in the stacked top-left quadrant. If Bremen and Wesleyan win, they will face each other in a top-5 matchup in the second round.
In the bottom-left quadrant, No. 2 Oconee County (vs. Gilmer), No. 8 Pike County (vs. Monroe) and No. 9 Savannah Christian (vs. Richmond Academy) will battle to advance.
In the top-right quadrant, No. 6 Hebron Christian (vs. Lumpkin County) and No. 7 Savannah Country Day (vs. Hephzibah) could have easier paths to later rounds.
In the bottom-right quadrant, No. 3 Coahulla Creek (vs. Carver-Atlanta) and No. 10 West Hall (vs. Franklin County) could meet in the second round.
Class 2A
Top-ranked Landmark Christian (vs. North Cobb Christian) begins the tournament in the top-right quadrant with No. 8 Fellowship (vs. Murray County) and No. 7 Tattnall County (vs. Thomson).
In the top-left quadrant, No. 3 Fitzgerald (vs. Jordan) and No. 5 Model (vs. East Jackson) would meet in the quarterfinals if each advance.
In the bottom-left quadrant, No. 2 Providence Christian (vs. Gordon Central) is the only ranked team in the quadrant.
In the bottom-right quadrant, four ranked teams will compete, highlighted by No. 6 Putnam playing No. 10 Toombs County. Also in the quadrant are No. 4 Walker (vs. ELCA) and No. 9 North Murray (vs. Union County).
Class A Division I
No. 5 Bleckley County and No. 7 Woodville Tompkins each enjoy BYEs in the first round. Top-ranked Tallulah Falls (vs. Darlington) is in the bottom-left quadrant with Bleckley County.
In the top-left quadrant, No. 3 Atlanta International (vs. Prince Ave.), No. 4 Bacon County (vs. Dublin) and No. 10 Dalton Academy (vs. Rabun County) headline the field.
In the top-right quadrant, Woodville-Tompkins (BYE) is the only ranked team. In the bottom-right quadrant, No. 2 Paideia (vs. Jasper County) and No. 9 Trion (vs. Barrow) could meet in the second round.
Class A Division II
Twelve teams received byes in the first round – No. 8 Aquinas, McIntosh County Academy, No. 2 Atkinson County, No. 3 Lake Oconee Academy, No. 4 Christian Heritage, Washington-Wilkes, No. 6 Echols County, Macon County, No. 5 Portal, No. 9 Chattahoochee County, Fugees Academy and top-ranked Georgia Military.
By virtue of the byes, four second-round matchups are set – No. 8 Aquinas vs. McIntosh County Academy, No. 4 Christian Heritage vs. Washington-Wilkes, No. 9 Chattahoochee County vs. Fugees Academy and No. 5 Portal vs. Macon County.
Boys soccer championships
First-round pairings
Class 7A
R5 #3 Kennesaw Mountain at R6 #2 South Forsyth
R8 #4 Buford at R7 #1 Norcross
R3 #3 McEachern at R4 #2 Archer
R2 #4 East Coweta at R1 #1 Colquitt County
R6 #3 Milton at R5 #2 Walton
R7 #4 Berkmar at R8 #1 Mill Creek
R4 #3 Parkview at R3 #2 Harrison
R1 #4 Lowndes at R2 #1 Pebblebrook
R1 #3 Camden County at R2 #2 Campbell
R4 #4 South Gwinnett at R3 #1 Hillgrove
R7 #3 North Gwinnett at R8 #2 Collins Hillgrove
R6 #4 Denmark at R5 #1 Osborne
R2 #3 Carrollton at R1 #2 Richmond Hill
R3 #4 North Paulding at R4 #1 Brookwood
R8 #3 Mountain View at R7 #2 Peachtree Ridge
R5 #4 Wheeler at R6 #1 Lambert
Class 6A
R5 #3 Douglas County at R6 #2 Rome
R8 #4 Habersham Central at R7 #1 Lassiter
R3 #3 Lovejoy at R4 #2 St. Pius X
R2 #4 Evans at R1 #1 Veterans
R6 #3 Etowah at R5 #2 Alexander
R7 #4 Johns Creek at R8 #1 Lanier
R4 #3 Dunwoody at R3 #2 Forest Park
R1 #4 Lee County at R2 #1 Glynn Academy
R1 #3 Thomas County Central at R2 #2 South Effingham
R4 #4 Lakeside-DeKalb at R3 #1 Woodward Academy
R7 #3 Blessed Trinity at R8 #2 Gainesville
R6 #4 Allatoona at R5 #1 South Paulding
R2 #3 Grovetown at R1 #2 Houston County
R3 #4 Morrow at R4 #1 Riverwood
R8 #3 North Forsyth at R7 #2 Sprayberry
R5 #4 Newnan at R6 #1 River Ridge
Class 5A
R5 #3 Chapel Hill at R6 #2 Chattahoochee
R8 #4 Jefferson at R7 #1 Dalton
R3 #3 Harris County at R4 #2 Chamblee
R2 #4 Eagles Landing at R1 #1 Greenbrier
R6 #3 Cambridge at R5 #2 Villa Rica
R7 #4 Cartersville at R8 #1 Flowery Branch
R4 #3 Decatur at R3 #2 Northgate
R1 #4 Ware County at R2 #1 Union Grove
R1 #3 Statesboro at R2 #2 Dutchtown
R4 #4 Cross Keys at R3 #1 McIntosh
R7 #3 Woodland-Cartersville at R8 #2 Clarke Central
R6 #4 Kell at R5 #1 Midtown
R2 #3 Locust Grove at R1 #2 Bradwell Institute
R3 #4 Drew at R4 #1 Tucker
R8 #3 Loganville at R7 #2 Cass
R5 #4 Tri-Cities at R6 #1 Centennial
Class 4A
R5 #3 Pace Academy at R6 #2 Druid Hills
R8 #4 North Oconee at R7 #1 Northwest Whitfield
R3 #3 Southeast Bulloch at R4 #2 Starr’s Mill
R2 #4 Baldwin at R1 #1 Cairo
R6 #3 Holy Innocents’ at R5 #2 Woodland-Stockbridge
R7 #4 Central-Carroll at R8 #1 Johnson-Gainesville
R4 #3 Whitewater at R3 #2 Islands
R1 #4 Hardaway at R2 #1 Perry
R1 #3 Shaw at R2 #2 West Laurens
R4 #4 Troup County at R3 #1 Benedictine
R7 #3 Cedartown at R8 #2 East Hall
R6 #4 Clarkston at R5 #1 Lovett
R2 #3 Spalding at R1 #2 Bainbridge
R3 #4 Wayne County at R4 #1 LaGrange
R8 #3 Chestatee at R7 #2 Southeast Whitfield
R5 #4 Stockbridge at R6 #1 Westminster
Class 3A
R5 #3 Douglass at R6 #2 Bremen
R8 #4 Hart County at R7 #1 Wesleyan
R3 #3 Long County at R4 #2 Harlem
R2 #4 Mary Persons at R1 #1 Columbus
R6 #3 Ringgold at R5 #2 Cedar Grove
R7 #4 Gilmer at R8 #1 Oconee County
R4 #3 Richmond Academy at R3 #2 Savannah Country Day
R1 #4 Monroe at R2 #1 Pike County
R1 #3 Crisp County at R2 #2 Jackson
R4 #4 Hephzibah at R3 #1 Savannah Country Day
R7 #3 Lumpkin County at R8 #2 Hebron Christian
R6 #4 Adairsville at R5 #1 Sandy Creek
R2 #3 Peach County at R1 #2 Thomasville
R3 #4 Groves at R4 #1 Morgan County
R8 #3 Franklin County at R7 #2 West Hall
R5 #4 Carver-Atlanta at R6 #1 Coahulla Creek
Class 2A
R5 #3 Callaway at R6 #2 Drew Charter
R8 #4 East Jackson at R7 #1 Model
R3 #3 Pierce County at R4 #2 Westside-Augusta
R2 #4 Jordan at R1 #1 Fitzgerald
R6 #3 Mount Paran at R5 #2 Towers
R7 #4 at R8 #1 Providence Christian
R4 #3 Johnson-Augusta at R3 #2 Savannah Arts
R1 #4 Dodge County at R2 #1 Academy for Classical Education
R1 #3 Sumter County at R2 #2 Spencer
R4 #4 Thomson at R3 #1 Tattnall County
R7 #3 Murray County at R8 #2 Fellowship Christian
R6 #4 North Cobb Christian at R5 #1 Landmark Christian
R2 #3 Rutland at R1 #2 Jeff Davis
R3 #4 Toombs County at R4 #1 Putnam County
R8 #3 Union County at R7 #2 North Murray
R5 #4 Eagles Landing Christian at R6 #1 Walker
Class A Division I
R5 #3 Prince Avenue Christian at R6 #2 Atlanta International
R8 #4 Rabun County at R7 #1 Dalton Academy
R3 #3 Metter at R4 #2 Temple
R2 #4 Dublin at R1 #1 Bacon County
R6 #3 Whitefield Academy at R5 #2 Social Circle
R7 #4 Darlington at R8 #1 Tallulah Falls
R4 #3 Crawford County at R3 #2 Claxton
R1 #4 BYE at R2 #1 Bleckley County
R1 #3 Irwin County at R2 #2 East Laurens
R4 #4 BYE at R3 #1 Woodville-Tompkins
R7 #3 Armuchee at R8 #2 Elbert County
R6 #4 Galloway at R5 #1 Oglethorpe County
R2 #3 Jefferson County at R1 #2 Brooks County
R3 #4 Bryan County at R4 #1 Lamar County
R8 #3 Barrow at R7 #2 Trion
R5 #4 Jasper County at R6 #1 Paideia
Class A Division II
A4 #6 BYE at A3 #3 Aquinas
A2 #2 McIntosh County Academy BYE
A1 #5 Dooly County at A2 #4 Montgomery County
A1 #1 Atkinson County BYE
A1 #6 Lanier County at A2 #3 Wheeler County
A3 #2 Lake Oconee Academy BYE
A4 #5 BYE at A3 #4 Washington-Wilkes
A4 #1 Christian Heritage BYE
A3 #6 Towns County at A4 #3 Mt. Zion-Carroll
A1 #2 Echols County BYE
A2 #5 BYE A1 #4 Macon County
A2 #1 Portal BYE
A2 #6 BYE at A1 #3 Chattahoochee County
A4 #2 Fugees Academy BYE
A3 #5 Lincoln County at A4 #4 Bowdon
A3 #1 Georgia Military BYE
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