Forty-one of the 63 teams that entered the girls soccer state playoffs as No. 1 seeds remain alive as the tournaments head into the quarterfinal round Tuesday night.
Overall, the postseason has been dominated by the higher-seeded teams, as the 41 remaining region champions have been joined by 15 region runners-up among the 64 teams still standing. Only three No. 3 seeds (Northgate of 5A, Mary Persons of 3A and Atlanta International of A Private) and five No. 4 seeds (Riverwood of 6A, Northview of 5A, North Hall of 3A, Pinecrest Academy of A Private and Towns County of A Public) remain.
Three of the biggest names missing from the quarterfinals are reigning champions North Gwinnett, Dacula and Wesleyan as well as No. 1-ranked Commerce.
North Gwinnett won the Class 7A title when the tournament was last held in 2019. The Bulldogs came into the postseason as the No. 2 seed from Region 8-7A and defeated Milton 5-1 in the first round but lost to No. 1-ranked Lambert 2-0 in the second round. Dacula, the defending 6A champion, was the No. 3 seed from Region 8-6A and lost to Carrollton 3-2 in the first round. Wesleyan, which won the A Private title in 2019, was the No. 4 seed from Region 5-A Private and lost to second-ranked Athens Academy 2-0 in the first round.
The other five champions from 2019 are still alive. They are 5A McIntosh, 4A St. Pius (now playing in 5A), 3A Westminster, 2A St. Vincent’s (now playing in A Private) and A Public ACE Charter.
Commerce rolled into the tournament as the top-ranked team in Class A Public and had a bye in the first round but was eliminated in Round 2 by No. 5 Atlanta Classical, which was the 2019 state runner-up. Commerce outscored its opponents 184-7 while compiling an 18-0 record during the regular season.
Second-ranked Social Circle also lost in the second round – 3-2 to fourth-ranked Armuchee – leaving No. 3 Screven County as the highest-ranked team remaining in A Public.
Five quarterfinal games match top-five teams, four of which involve top-ranked teams. No. 1 Lambert travels to No. 5 Brookwood in Class 7A; No. 1 Blessed Trinity hosts No. 5 Northgate in 5A; No. 1 Marist travels to No. 3 Perry in 4A; No. 5 Jackson visits No. 2 Oconee County in 3A; and No. 1 Bremen travels to No. 3 Lamar County in 2A.
Another game of note matches Holy Innocents’ against St. Vincent’s in A Private. No. 8 St. Vincent’s won the past three championships in 2A before moving down in reclassification, and Holy Innocents’ is the current No. 1-ranked team.
Class 3A No. 1 Westminster will travel to Southeast Bulloch needing three more victories to become the first school in GHSA history to win six consecutive state championships in girls soccer. The Wildcats defeated East Jackson and Cherokee Bluff by 10-0 scores in the first two rounds.
Class 7A
Second-round scores
Harrison 6, Grayson 0
Roswell 3, Norcross 2
West Forsyth 2, Mill Creek 1
Parkview 1, Hillgrove 0
Dunwoody 3, Alpharetta 1
Walton 6, Camden County 0
Brookwood 3, Campbell 1
Lambert 2, North Gwinnett 0
Quarterfinal games
(R5 #1) Roswell at (R3 #1) Harrison
(R4 #2) Parkview at (R6 #2) West Forsyth
(R3 #2) Walton at (R7 #1) Dunwoody
(R6 #1) Lambert at (R4 #1) Brookwood
Class 6A
Second-round scores
Grovetown 3, Lee County 0
Cambridge 8, Dalton 0
Buford 4, Lassiter 0
Johns Creek 7, Carrollton 0
Houston County 6, Bradwell Institute 2
Richmond Hill 5, Lakeside-DeKalb 1
Riverwood 5, Lanier 0
Quarterfinal games
(R7 #2) Cambridge at (R3 #1) Grovetown
(R2 #1) Glynn Academy at (R8 #1) Buford
(R1 #1) Houston County at (R7 #1) Johns Creek
(R7 #4) Riverwood at (R2 #2) Richmond Hill
Class 5A
Second-round scores
Woodward Academy 9, Ola 0
St. Pius 9, Calhoun 1
Northview 2, Villa Rica 0
McIntosh 9, Jones County 0
Blessed Trinity 8, Chamblee 2
Northgate 6, Eagle’s Landing 0
Starr’s Mill 5, Union Grove 1
Grady 3, Decatur 2
Quarterfinal games
(R5 #1) St. Pius at (R3 #1) Woodward Academy
(R5 #4) Northview at (R2 #1) McIntosh
(R2 #3) Northgate at (R7 #1) Blessed Trinity
(R2 #2) Starr’s Mill at (R6 #1) Grady
Class 4A
Second-round scores
Islands 2, Bainbridge 0
Heritage-Catoosa 3, Madison County 0
North Oconee 10, Southeast Whitfield 0
Columbus 8, Rutland 0
Northwest Whitfield 2, Jefferson 0
Thomas County Central 4, New Hampstead 1
Perry 2, LaGrange 1
Marist 5, Flowery Branch 1
Quarterfinal games
(R7 #2) Heritage-Catoosa at (R3 #1) Islands
(R2 #1) Columbus at (R8 #1) North Oconee
(R1 #1) Thomas County Central at (R7 #1) Northwest Whitfield
(R6 #1) Marist at (R4 #1) Perry
Class 3A
Second-round scores
Southeast Bulloch 2, Tattnall County 1
Westminster 10, Cherokee Bluff 0
Oconee County 3, White County 2
Jackson 6, Richmond Academy 0
Greater Atlanta Christian 4, Lumpkin County 0
Mary Persons 2, Pierce County 0
Pike County 2, Morgan County 1
North Hall 5, Stephens County 4
Quarterfinal games
(R5 #1) Westminster at (R3 #1) Southeast Bulloch
(R2 #1) Jackson at (R8 #1) Oconee County
(R2 #3) Mary Persons at (R5 #2) Greater Atlanta Christian
(R7 #4) North Hall at (R2 #2) Pike County
Class 2A
Second-round scores
Lamar County 5, Thomasville 1
Bremen 9, Fannin County 1
Pace Academy 11, Rabun County 1
Oglethorpe County 1, East Laurens 0
Model 9, Banks County 0
Fitzgerald 2, Bleckley County 0
Putnam County 2, Toombs County 0
Lovett 10, Union County 0
Quarterfinal games
(R5 #1) Bremen at (R3 #1) Lamar County
(R4 #2) Oglethorpe County at (R6 #2) Pace Academy
(R1 #1) Fitzgerald at (R7 #1) Model
(R6 #1) Lovett at (R4 #1) Putnam County
Class A Private
Second-round scores
St. Vincent’s 3, Stratford Academy 1
Holy Innocents’ 5, Lakeview Academy 3
Athens Academy 7, Fellowship Christian 1
Paideia 2, Trinity Christian 1
Pinecrest Academy 5, Hebron Christian 0
First Presbyterian 2, Eagle’s Landing Christian 1
Whitefield Academy 3, Brookstone 1
Atlanta International 4, Mount Pisgah Christian 3
Quarterfinal games
(R5 #1) Holy Innocents’ at (R3 #1) St. Vincent’s
(R2 #1) Paideia at (R8 #1) Athens Academy
(R6 #4) Pinecrest Academy at (R1 #1) First Presbyterian
(R5 #3) Atlanta International at (R2 #2) Whitefield Academy
Class A Public
Second-round scores
Screven County 7, Johnson County 1
Towns County 3, Drew Charter 2
Atlanta Classical 2, Commerce 1
Irwin County 4, Treutlen 2
ACE Charter 1, Lake Oconee Academy 0
Portal 5, Wheeler County 1
Atkinson County 2, Dublin 1
Armuchee 3, Social Circle 2
Quarterfinal games
(R8 #4) Towns County at (R3 #1) Screven County
(R6 #2) Atlanta Classical at (R2 #1) Irwin County
(R3 #2) Portal at (R7 #1) ACE Charter
(R2 #2) Atkinson County at (R6 #1) Armuchee
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