The schedule for this week’s GHSA girls soccer championships is set after the completion of the boys semifinals Tuesday night.
Here’s the complete schedule:
Class 7A: West Forsyth vs. Lambert, 5:30 p.m. Friday, Duluth High School
Class 6A: Cambridge vs. Johns Creek, 5:30 p.m. Friday, McEachern High School
Class 5A: St. Pius vs. Blessed Trinity, 5:30 p.m. Thursday, McEachern High School
Class 4A: North Oconee vs. Marist, 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Duluth High School
Class 3A: Westminster vs. Greater Atlanta Christian, 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Mercer University
Class 2A: Bremen vs. Lovett, 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Savannah Memorial Stadium
Class A Private: Holy Innocents’ vs. Pinecrest Academy, 5:30 p.m. Friday, Savannah Memorial Stadium
Class A Public: Atlanta Classical vs. Armuchee, 5:30 p.m. Friday, Mercer University
The original schedule had the championship games being played Thursday through Saturday. Instead, there will be no games on Saturday.
Four of the eight championship games will match teams from the same region. Those games include Lambert against West Forsyth in Class 7A, Johns Creek against Cambridge in 6A, Westminster against Greater Atlanta Christian in 3A, and Armuchee against Atlanta Classical in A Public.
The GHSA had previously announced that it would not be releasing the schedule for the finals until Tuesday night, but the late notice of the schedule, which didn’t come out until after 11 p.m., and the travel facing some teams still caused anxiety among a few of the head coaches.
Westminster, seeking a state-record sixth consecutive girls soccer championship, will travel 93 miles from its north Atlanta campus to Mercer’s Five Star Stadium for a 5:30 p.m. Thursday match against Gwinnett County’s Greater Atlanta Christian.
“The uncertainty and stress on each of these schools and all of these players and fans and families is enormous,” Westminster coach Clark Meyer said. “It’s difficult enough to have to travel an unnecessarily long distance. But to have such late notice just compounds the matter for all involved.”
Westminster (20-0) defeated GAC 5-1 on March 26 in the game that decided the Region 5-3A championship. It was one of six victories this season against teams that ultimately reached the finals for the Wildcats, who also defeated Blessed Trinity (4-2), West Forsyth (3-1), St. Pius (4-0), Marist (3-1) and Lovett (2-0).
The choice of Savannah as a host site was an interesting one, considering that only nine teams from outside the metro Atlanta area have won state titles since the GHSA began conducting a girls soccer tournament in 1992 – Savannah Country Day in 2002 and 2006; First Presbyterian of Macon in 2011, 2012 and 2018; St. Vincent’s of Savannah in 2017, 2018 and 2019; and ACE Charter of Macon in 2019. None of those teams, nor any other school south of Atlanta, made the girls finals this season.
The schools facing the long trips to Savannah will be the finalists in Class 2A and A Private.
Holy Innocents’ and Pinecrest Academy, the A Private finalists, are about 25 miles apart in north metro Atlanta. They will be traveling 270 miles (Holy Innocents’) and 289 miles (Pinecrest) for their 5:30 p.m. game Friday. Pinecrest Academy is the No. 4 seed from Region 6-A Private and the only remaining team in any classification that did not finish first or second in its region.
It will be worse for 2A finalists Bremen and Lovett, who are looking at similar travel times but will have one day less to prepare, as they meet at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. Bremen will travel 301 miles one way, while Lovett will go 263. Those schools are 51 miles apart.
Class 7A
Semifinal scores
West Forsyth 2, Roswell 0
Lambert 1, Walton 0
Championship game
(R6 #2) West Forsyth vs. (R6 #1) Lambert
Class 6A
Semifinal scores
Cambridge 2, Buford 1
Johns Creek 1, Riverwood 0
Championship game
(R7 #2) Cambridge vs. (R7 #1) Johns Creek
Class 5A
Semifinal scores
St. Pius 3, McIntosh 1
Blessed Trinity 4, Grady 0
Championship game
(R5 #1) St. Pius vs. (R7 #1) Blessed Trinity
Class 4A
Semifinal scores
North Oconee 9, Heritage-Catoosa 0
Marist 8, Northwest Whitfield 0
Championship game
(R8 #1) North Oconee vs. (R6 #1) Marist
Class 3A
Semifinal scores
Westminster 8, North Oconee 0
Greater Atlanta Christian 3, Pike County 0
Championship game
(R5 #1) Westminster vs. (R5 #2) Greater Atlanta Christian
Class 2A
Semifinal scores
Bremen 3, Pace Academy 0
Lovett 5, Model 0
Championship game
(R5 #1) Bremen vs. (R6 #1) Lovett
Class A Private
Semifinal scores
Holy Innocents’ 1, Paideia 0
Pinecrest Academy 2, Atlanta International 1
Championship game
(R5 #1) Holy Innocents’ vs. (R6 #4) Pinecrest Academy
Class A Public
Semifinal scores
Atlanta Classical 4, Towns County 0
Armuchee 4, ACE Charter 2
Championship game
(R6 #2) Atlanta Classical vs. (R6 #1) Armuchee
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