Twenty-one programs that entered the boys state high school soccer playoffs as No. 1 seeds head into Tuesday’s semifinals, all hoping to make it to the state championship games that will be held May 13-15 at McEachern, Duluth, Mercer University and Savannah’s Memorial Stadium.
It’s a stark contrast from last season when teams sat idly by and watched their sport fizzle away under the pressures of a worldwide pandemic.
The lowest-seeded team that is still alive is Region 6 No. 4 seed South Forsyth, which will travel to South Gwinnett, the Region 4 No. 1 seed, for its 7A semifinal match. South Forsyth beat Discovery 2-1, Mountain View 3-1 and Harrison 3-2 to earn its semifinal berth. South Gwinnett is the only top-seeded program alive in the 7A playoffs.
Top-ranked Dalton had little trouble moving past Tucker 4-0 to earn its semifinal berth against Lakeside-DeKalb at home.
Starr’s Mill, the top-ranked program entering the playoffs, will not advance to the 5A semis after the Panthers lost to Johnson-Gainesville 2-1 on the road in the quarterfinals. Johnson will play host to Woodward Academy in the semifinals. On the other side of the 5A bracket, No. 2-ranked McIntosh will travel to Blessed Trinity for a chance at a return trip to the state title game after winning the 2019 state championship against Starr’s Mill.
Speaking of 2019 champions, Lambert, Dalton, McIntosh, Oconee County (4A in 2019, now 3A), Westminster, Georgia Military and Wesleyan are still alive. Only Thomasville, the defending 2A champion, is missing from the semifinals. Thomasville lost to Gordon Central 5-2 in the quarterfinal round.
Follow the LINK to the boys playoff brackets. Go here to see the PREP SCOREBOARD powered by Score Atlanta. Here are the PAST BOYS SOCCER CHAMPIONS provided by the GHSA.
Here is the semifinals schedule and the quarterfinals results:
GHSA boys soccer playoffs
Semifinals games scheduled for Tuesday
Class 7A
R6 #3 Lambert at R6 #2 Denmark
R6 #4 South Forsyth at R4 #1 South Gwinnett
Class 6A
R4 #2 Lakeside-DeKalb at R5 #1 Dalton
R7 #1 Johns Creek at R4 #1 North Atlanta
Class 5A
R3 #1 Woodward Academy at R8 #1 Johnson-Gainesville
R2 #2 McIntosh at R7 #1 Blessed Trinity
Class 4A
R3 #1 Islands at R8 #1 East Hall
R8 #2 Jefferson at R7 #1 Southeast Whitfield
Class 3A
R5 #1 Westminster at R8 #1 Oconee County
R5 #2 Greater Atlanta Christian at R6 #1 Coahulla Creek
Class 2A
R6 #2 Lovett at R5 #1 Bremen
R7 #1 Gordon Central at R6 #1 Pace Academy
Class A Public
R7 #2 Georgia Military at R8 #1 Towns County
R8 #2 Lake Oconee Academy at R7 #1 ACE Charter
Class A Private
R5 #1 Atlanta International at R8 #1 Athens Academy
R5 #2 Wesleyan at R4 #1 St. Anne-Pacelli
Quarterfinals results
Class 7A
R6 #3 Lambert 2, R3 #1 Walton 0
R6 #2 Denmark 2, R2 #1 Campbell 1
R6 #4 South Forsyth 3, R3 #2 Harrison 2
R4 #1 South Gwinnett 5, R6 #1 Forsyth Central 1
Class 6A
R5 #1 Dalton 4, R4 #3 Tucker 0
R4 #2 Lakeside-DeKalb 3, R8 #1 Central Gwinnett 1
R7 #1 Johns Creek 2, R1 #1 Valdosta 0
R4 #1 North Atlanta 1, R6 #1 Allatoona 0
Class 5A
R3 #1 Woodward Academy 6, R7 #2 Cartersville 1
R8 #1 Johnson-Gainesville 2, R2 #1 Starr’s Mill 1
R7 #1 Blessed Trinity 5, R2 #3 Whitewater 2
R2 #2 McIntosh 2, R8 #2 Clarke Central 1
Class 4A
R3 #1 Islands 2, R8 #4 Flowery Branch 1
R8 #1 East Hall 3, R2 #1 LaGrange 1
R7 #1 Southeast Whitfield 2, R3 #2 Benedictine 0
R8 #2 Jefferson 2, R2 #2 Columbus 0
Class 3A
R5 #1 Westminster 5, R3 #1 Savannah Arts 1
R8 #1 Oconee County 1, R2 #1 Pike County 0
R5 #2 Greater Atlanta Christian 5, R1 #1 Pierce County 1
R6 #1 Coahulla Creek 5, R4 #1 Morgan County 4
Class 2A
R5 #1 Bremen 4, R3 #1 Lamar County 0
R6 #2 Lovett 10, R2 #1 Bacon County 0
R7 #1 Gordon Central 5, R1 #1 Thomasville 2
R6 #1 Pace Academy 5, R4 #1 Putnam County 1
Class A Public
R7 #2 Georgia Military 6, R3 #1 Claxton 1
R8 #1 Towns County 3, R2 #1 Atkinson County 0
R7 #1 ACE Charter 8, R3 #2 Portal 1
R8 #2 Lake Oconee Academy 3, R2 #2 Echols County 2
Class A Private
R5 #1 Atlanta International 3, R3 #1 Savannah Country Day 0
R8 #1 Athens Academy 1, R4 #2 Heritage-Newnan 0
R5 #2 Wesleyan 6, R4 #4 Brookstone 0
R4 #1 St. Anne-Pacelli 6, R5 #3 Providence Christian 1
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