The Denmark and North Oconee girls soccer teams are in the top 10 of the most recent United Soccer Coaches national ranking of spring teams, which was released last week.
Denmark is No. 4 nationally behind Bloomfield (Col.), Triad (Ill.) and St. Dominic (Mo.). North Oconee holds the No. 8 spot behind teams from North Carolina, Colorado and Kansas.
Denmark is 16-0 and ranked No. 1 in Georgia’s Class 7A. The Danes clinched the first soccer region championship – boys or girls – in school history with an 8-0 victory over South Forsyth on March 24. They have outscored their opponents 105-3 this season. Denmark closes the regular season Thursday night at Parkview and begins the playoffs at home Tuesday against Mountain View.
North Oconee is the defending Class 4A champion and current No. 1-ranked team. The Titans finished off a 17-0 regular season with a 10-0 victory over Madison County last week. The Titans, who have outscored their opponents 96-4, will be at home for the first round of the playoffs on April 14 against the No. 4 seed from Region 6.
Tournament schedule
The state tournament will begin next Tuesday with first-round games in classes 7A, 5A, 3A and A (Public and Private), followed two days later by first-round play in 6A, 4A and 2A.
Championship games will be played May 3-6 at McEachern High School and Mercer University. The first four rounds will be played at the higher-seeded school (coin flips will determine the site if schools have the same seed).
Here is the schedule for the five rounds of the girls soccer tournament:
April 12 – First round (Classes 7A, 5A, 3A and A)
April 14 – First round (Classes 6A, 4A and 2A)
April 18 – Second round (Classes 7A, 5A, 3A and A)
April 20 – Second round (Classes 6A, 4A and 2A)
April 25 – Quarterfinals
April 28 – Semifinals
May 3-6 – Championships
Filling in the brackets
Thirty-one regions have crowned champions and reported them to the GHSA with a week remaining before the start of the playoffs, leaving more than half the region titles undecided. Classes 7A and 5A lead the way with seven region champs each listed on the GHSA brackets.
The GHSA has 64 regions in its eight classifications, but only 63 will send teams to the playoffs as Region 1-A Public will not have participating teams. That means the four representatives from 3-A Public – No. 1 seed Screven County, No. 2 Claxton, No. 3 McIntosh County Academy and No. 4 Metter – will have first-round byes.
Here are the 31 teams that have clinched region championships and will be No. 1 seeds in the playoffs. They will be guaranteed home games through the first two rounds.
Class 7A: Campbell (Region 2), Walton (R3), Brookwood (R4), Alpharetta (R5), Denmark (R6), Dunwoody (R7), Mill Creek (R8)
Class 6A: Richmond Hill (R2), Dalton (R5), Lassiter (R6), Cambridge (R7)
Class 5A: Veterans (R1), McIntosh (R2), Woodward Academy (R3), Ola (R4), Chamblee (R5), Blessed Trinity (R7), Jackson County (R8)
Class 4A: Thomas County Central (R1), Luella (R5), North Oconee (R8)
Class 3A: Cherokee Bluff (R7), Oconee County (R8)
Class 2A: Oglethorpe County (R4), Bremen (R5)
Class A Private: Paideia (R2), Brookstone (R4), Pinecrest Academy (R6), Mount Paran Christian (R7)
Class A Public: Screven County (R3), ACE Charter (R7)
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