Nineteen top seeds, five No. 2 seeds, six No. 3 seeds and two No. 4 seeds advanced to the semifinals round of the GHSA boys state soccer championships which begin Friday.
The highest-ranked losses in the quarterfinals came in Class 5A, where No. 4-ranked Midtown defeated top-ranked McIntosh 2-0, and in Class 3A, where Wesleyan beat top-ranked Columbus 2-1. Midtown has never won a state title, and Wesleyan wants its fourth – 2016, 2019 and 2021.
Four teams ranked at the top of their respective classes remain alive – Class 7A No. 1 Lambert, Class 6A No. 1 Lassiter, Class 4A No. 1 Johnson-Gainesville and Class A Division II No. 1 Georgia Military.
There are eight programs in the semifinals that were unranked at the beginning of the playoffs – Archer (7A), Flowery Branch (5A), North Oconee (4A), Benedictine (4A), Pierce County (2A), Union County (2A), Armuchee (Class A Division I), and Mount Zion-Carroll (Class A Division II).
Three defending champions remain with hopes for repeat championships. Lassiter defeated Dalton 3-1 last season to win the Class 6A title and will take on No. 6-ranked Johns Creek in the semifinals this year. In Class 5A last season, Johnson-Gainesville beat St. Pius X 4-2 to capture the team’s second title (2018) and will face unranked North Oconee in the 4A semifinals after reclassification.
Atlanta International has a chance to win the program’s third title in three different classes since 2015. The team won the Class A title in 2015 to mark the program’s first championship and defeated Athens Academy 5-3 to win its second state title last season in Class A Private. After reclassifying to Class A Division I this season, Atlanta International will face No. 6-ranked Whitfield Academy in the semifinals.
Boys soccer playoffs
Semifinals schedule
Class 7A
R5 #2 Walton (No. 8) at R4 #2 Archer (unranked)
R8 #2 Collins Hill (No. 4) at R6 #1 Lambert (No. 1)
Class 6A
R7 #4 Johns Creek (No. 6) at R7 #1 Lassiter (No. 1)
R7 #3 Blessed Trinity (No. 5) at R6 #1 River Ridge (No. 7)
Class 5A
R7 #1 (No. 2) Dalton at R8 #1 Flowery Branch (unranked)
R5 #1 Midtown (No. 4) at R6 #1 Centennial (No. 9)
Class 4A
R8 #4 North Oconee (unranked) at R8 #1 Johnson-Gainesville (No. 1)
R3 #1 Benedictine (unranked) at R6 #1 Westminster (No. 2)
Class 3A
R7 #1 Wesleyan (No. 5) at R8 #1 Oconee County (No. 2)
R8 #2 Hebron Christian (No. 6) at R6 #1 Coahulla Creek (No. 3)
Class 2A
R3 #3 Pierce County (unranked) at R8 #1 Providence Christian (No. 2)
R8 #3 Union County (unranked) at R3 #1 Tattnall County (No. 7)
Class A Division I
R6 #3 Whitefield Academy (No. 6) at R6 #2 Atlanta International (No. 3)
R7 #3 Armuchee (unranked) at R6 #1 Paideia (No. 2)
Class A Division II
A1 #1 Atkinson County (No. 2) at A4 #1 Christian Heritage (No. 4)
A4 #3 Mt. Zion-Carroll (unranked) at A3 #1 Georgia Military (No. 1)
Quarterfinals results
Class 7A
R4 #2 Archer 1, R7 #1 Norcross 0
R5 #2 Walton 2, R4 #3 Parkview 1
R8 #2 Collins Hill 3, R2 #2 Campbell 0
R6 #1 Lambert 2, R1 #2 Richmond Hill 0
Class 6A
R7 #1 Lassiter 3, R4 #2 St. Pius X 1
R7 #4 Johns Creek 3, R2 #1 Glynn Academy 0
R7 #3 Blessed Trinity 3, R4 #4 Lakeside-DeKalb 1
R6 #1 River Ridge 2, R4 #1 Riverwood 1
Class 5A
R7 #1 Dalton 4, R4 #2 Chamblee 3
R8 #1 Flowery Branch 1, R2 #1 Union Grove 0
R5 #1 Midtown 2, R3 #1 McIntosh 0
R6 #1 Centennial 5, R1 #2 Bradwell Institute 1
Class 4A
R8 #4 North Oconee 2, R1 #1 Cairo 1
R8 #1 Johnson-Gainesville 7, R4 #3 Whitewater 1
R3 #1 Benedictine 3, R8 #2 East Hall 2
R6 #1 Westminster 7, R4 #1 LaGrange 2
Class 3A
R7 #1 Wesleyan 2, R1 #1 Columbus 1
R8 #1 Oconee County 1, R2 #1 Pike County 0
R8 #2 Hebron Christian 2, R3 #1 Savannah Country Day 1
R6 #1 Coahulla Creek 4, R2 #3 Peach County 0
Class 2A
R3 #3 Pierce County 3, R7 #1 Model 2
R8 #1 Providence Christian 8, R2 #1 Academy for Classical Education 0
R3 #1 Tattnall County 4, R8 #2 Fellowship Christian 1
R8 #3 Union County 1, R4 #1 Putnam County 0
Class A Division I
R6 #2 Atlanta International 8, R1 #1 Bacon County 1
R6 #3 Whitefield Academy 2 R3 #2 Claxton 0
R7 #3 Armuchee 4, R3 #1 Woodville-Tompkins 1
R6 #1 Paideia 9, R4 #1 Lamar County 0
Class A Division II
A1 #1 Atkinson County 5, A3 #3 Aquinas 1
A4 #1 Christian Heritage 5, A3 #2 Lake Oconee Academy 1
A4 #3 Mt. Zion-Carroll 5, A2 #1 Portal 4
A3 #1 Georgia Military 2, A4 #2 Fugees Academy 0
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