Lacrosse in brief: Week 9

ajc.com

The close of the regular season is here, with teams having through Saturday to get their remaining matches in.

The playoffs start April 28.

We will transition to postseason coverage, and this will be the final Monday that a boys and girls team from each classification will be spotlighted.

Below are this week’s teams:

(Note: All stats and records are sourced from MaxPreps)

6A-7A

Boys

Johns Creek (11-4)

Upcoming matches: Tuesday at Centennial (6-5), Thursday at Mill Creek (11-3)

Notes: For the Gladiators, it’s simple — beat Centennial and they win Area 1 with a 6-0 record. Lose, and it get’s complicated because they could fall into a three-way tie at 5-1 with Centennial and Buford. They’ll look to avoid that and secure the No. 1 seed with a win, and two days later they’ll close out their regular season with a non-region match against unranked Mill Creek.

Girls

Roswell (8-3)

Upcoming matches: Tuesday at home vs. Etowah (7-6), Thursday at home vs. Johns Creek (9-5)

Notes: The Lady Hornets closed out their Area 2 schedule Friday with a 20-7 loss to top-ranked Milton in a match that determined league champion. With their playoff positioning locked in as a No. 2 seed, they’ll play a pair of non-region matches at home to close the regular season.

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1A-5A

Boys

Starr’s Mill (12-5)

Upcoming matches: Thursday at Centennial (6-5)

Notes: The Panthers locked up the Area 7 title last Thursday with a 6-3 win over McIntosh, claiming the top seed with a 5-0 league record. What’s also notable about the Panthers is how competitive they were this season against ranked 6A-7A opponents in three close defeats. They lost 10-6 to top-ranked Lambert, 12-8 to No. 4 Johns Creek and 11-10 to No. 5 Lassiter.

Girls

Starr’s Mill (12-1-1)

Upcoming matches: Monday at home vs. Centennial (6-6), Tuesday at Lassiter (9-5), Thursday at Hillgrove (14-1)

Notes: The Lady Panthers ran away with the Area 7 championship with a 7-0 record, with the next closest teams at 3-1. However, they’ve got a challenging week ahead, playing three games as they prepare for the playoffs — including 6A-7A’s No. 3 Hillgrove and No. 9 Lassiter.