The Georgia High School Association didn’t do the girls soccer programs in Class 6A any favors when it moved three of the state’s most successful programs into the division during its most recent reclassification.
Private school powers Marist, St. Pius and Blessed Trinity come to the classification with a combined 29 state championships. St. Pius is tied with McIntosh for second in state history with 12 titles. Marist is fourth with 11, including the Class 4A championship last season, and Blessed Trinity is tied for sixth with six. All are ranked in the top five in Class 6A this season in the most recent Score Atlanta rankings.
For the returning teams in Class 6A, the addition of the private schools present another tough challenge in what was already a strong classification.
“This is definitely a tough classification, a lot of talented teams, but Pope is ready for the challenge,” Greyhounds coach Jen Smith said. “You have to play the best to be the best. Some of the most talented teams in the state fall in the 6A classification, and many of those teams are in our region. Going into the season we knew the competition would be tough, so our players have been focusing and preparing since January. We are hoping this hard work translates into a long run in the state tournament.”
The biggest impact of the incoming teams has been felt in Region 4 and Region 7.
Blessed Trinity joined Region 7, which also includes Alpharetta, Johns Creek, Lassiter, Pope, Roswell and Sprayberry. Lassiter is the defending state champion and currently ranked No. 3, one spot behind Blessed Trinity. Pope, a quarterfinalist last season, is ranked No. 4, while Roswell is No. 10.
Pope has clinched the region title, and Blessed Trinity will finish second. Lassiter, despite its lofty ranking, will be the No. 3 seed and face a first-round road game in the playoffs, and Roswell took the No. 4 spot.
“Yes, 6A is loaded but so is 7A, 5A, and even 4A.” Lassiter coach Robbie Galvin said. “There are some top, top teams in all those classifications who could compete at any level. I think, overall, it speaks to the climate of Georgia soccer right now. We have some of the top players in the country who are signed and committed to some of the top collegiate programs.
“For us, our approach changed this year because of our loaded region. I knew there would be a couple of top teams left out of the playoff mix coming out of our region. You always preach to your kids to compete each and every game no matter what, but in our region nothing is given.”
Marist, ranked No. 1, and St. Pius joined Region 4 along with Dunwoody, Lakeside-DeKalb, North Atlanta, Riverwood and South Cobb. Marist earned the region’s No. 1 playoff seed, followed by seventh-ranked North Atlanta, fifth-ranked St. Pius and Lakeside.
“To me, it’s not that 6A is noticeably harder than it was in past years. It’s more that the traditional powerhouses, which we are starting to become, are not at all evenly distributed,” North Atlanta coach Gregory Baeza said. “That being said, I don’t fault the GHSA. If you distribute the talent evenly based on past performance for one sport, then it will likely be uneven in other sports. And grouping teams based on geography and travel times makes a ton of sense.
“Ultimately, teams hoping to make noise in the playoffs want tough competition in region and non-region games before the playoffs. Steel sharpens steel and other cliches are valid. It just really sucks for the 5th place team in a tough region, who could likely win comfortably against a No. 2 seed from a weaker region. I do want to be clear that winning a region is hard and all teams who make the playoffs deserve credit for their accomplishment, but to say that all regions are even close to even would be untrue and naïve.”
The state playoffs begin on April 11, with Class 6A games scheduled for April 13. The championships will be held May 2-5 at McEachern High School and Mercer University. The 6A finals will be played May 4 at McEachern.
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