All eight No. 1-ranked teams, five reigning state champions and three upset-minded No. 4 seeds are among the 64 teams heading to the quarterfinals of the high school girls soccer playoffs, to be played Monday night.
Top-ranked teams Mill Creek (Class 7A), Marist (6A), Chamblee (5A), North Oconee (4A), Oconee County (3A), Fellowship Christian (2A), Commerce (A Division I) and McIntosh County Academy (A Division II) have cruised through the first two rounds, outscoring their opponents by a combined 107-6.
Mill Creek has had the toughest road to the quarterfinals, surviving tough challenges from Peachtree Ridge (1-0) and Milton (3-1) in the first two rounds. McIntosh County Academy had a bye in the first round of the 24-team Class A Division II bracket and defeated Montgomery County 4-1 in the second round.
Marist is one of the five reigning state champions still alive in the tournament. The War Eagles won Class 4A last season but moved up to 6A after reclassification. Marist is joined in the Class 6A field by defending champion Lassiter. If both teams win their quarterfinal games – Lassiter against Woodward Academy and Marist against Blessed Trinity – they would meet in the semifinals.
Other remaining state champions are Westminster and Lovett in Class 4A and Social Circle in Class A Division I. Westminster won the past seven championships in Class 3A before moving up this season, and Lovett moved up after winning the past two Class 2A titles. Social Circle was the Class A Public champion in 2022.
The most power-laden quarterfinal bracket is in Class 4A, which contains several of the state’s winningest programs. Six of the eight quarterfinalists – Westminster, Starr’s Mill, Lovett, Holy Innocents’, Whitewater and North Oconee – have combined to win 31 state championships, with Westminster bringing home a state-record 15. Of those six teams, all of have won at least one state title since 2015, and all but North Oconee have won multiple championships in their histories.
They will be joined in the Class 4A quarterfinals by LaGrange and Trinity Christian, both of which are seeking their first titles.
Trinity Christian is one of three No. 4 seeds that survived the first two rounds. Roswell and Toombs County are the others.
Roswell, ranked No. 10 entering the tournament, won at Region 8 champion Jackson County (5-0) and River Ridge (2-0) to set up a quarterfinal matchup with No. 6 St. Pius in Class 6A. Trinity Christian defeated Region 3 champion Southeast Bulloch (3-2) and Shaw (7-0) and will face No. 10 Lovett in the 4A quarterfinals. Trinity Christian played in A Private last season but moved up three classes in reclassification. Toombs County eliminated Region 4 champion Putnam County (4-0) and Jeff Davis (2-0) to reach a quarterfinal game against seventh-ranked Mount Paran Christian in Class 2A.
The winners of Monday’s games will advance to Thursday’s semifinals. The championship games will be played May 2-5 at McEachern High School and Mercer University.
Here are the quarterfinal matchups:
Class 7A
(R6 #2) Denmark at (R1 #1) Richmond Hill
(R8 #1) Mill Creek at (R2 #1) Campbell
(R3 #1) Harrison at (R5 #1) Walton
(R4 #1) Archer at (R6 #1) Forsyth Central
Class 6A
(R4 #2) North Atlanta at (R7 #1) Pope
(R7 #4) Roswell at (R4 #3) St. Pius
(R7 #3) Lassiter at (R3 #1) Woodward Academy
(R7 #2) Blessed Trinity at (R4 #1) Marist
Class 5A
(R6 #2) Northview at (R1 #1) Greenbrier
(R6 #3) Greater Atlanta Christian at (R3 #2) Northgate
(R3 #1) McIntosh at (R5 #1) Midtown
(R4 #1) Chamblee at (R6 #1) Cambridge
Class 4A
(R6 #2) Holy Innocents’ at (R4 #2) Whitewater
(R4 #3) LaGrange at (R8 #1) North Oconee
(R4 #4) Trinity Christian at (R5 #1) Lovett
(R4 #1) Starr’s Mill at (R6 #1) Westminster
Class 3A
(R7 #1) Wesleyan at (R1 #1) Columbus
(R3 #2) Savannah Country Day at (R8 #1) Oconee County
(R7 #3) White County at (R3 #1) St. Vincent’s
(R4 #1) Morgan County at (R6 #1) Bremen
Class 2A
(R7 #1) Model at (R1 #1) Fitzgerald
(R8 #1) Fellowship Christian at (R2 #1) ACE Charter
(R8 #2) Athens Academy at (R3 #1) Savannah Arts Academy
(R3 #4) Toombs County at (R6 #1) Mount Paran Christian
Class A Division I
(R6 #2) Mount Vernon at (R4 #2) Temple
(R8 #1) Commerce at (R2 #1) Bleckley County
(R2 #2) East Laurens at (R5 #1) Social Circle
(R4 #1) Lamar County at (R6 #1) Paideia
Class A Division II
(A3 #3) Towns County at (A1 #1) Hawkinsville
(A3 #2) Lake Oconee Academy at (A4 #1) Atlanta Classical
(A1 #2) Dooly County at (A2 #1) McIntosh County Academy
(A4 #2) Mount Zion-Carroll at (A3 #1) Aquinas
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