Starr’s Mill is entering the final weeks of the regular season challenging out-of-class teams in preparation for the playoffs. The program has two state championships but has not won a title since 2010 and entering its final matches, the Class 4A No. 3-ranked Panthers are searching for momentum.
Starr’s Mill lost its third match of the season against crosstown rival Class 5A No. 1 McIntosh 3-0 Thursday and has two out-of-class matches left on its schedule to right the ship before the playoffs. The team previously dropped matches to Class 7A East Coweta 2-1 on Feb. 6 and to Lassiter 3-0 on Feb. 15.
The Panthers are 10-3-1 and 7-0 in Area 4-4A and a lot of the production is from a pair of seniors. Emilio Meza has scored nine goals and Hunter Meeks adds eight goals. Senior Simon Ruiz adds four goals with seven assists, freshman Gabriel Velez adds four goals with six assists, senior Luke Turpin has four goals with two assists and nine other players combine for 16 goals.
The team leads the Area 4 standings at 7-0 ahead of No. 5 Whitewater (12-2, 6-1), LaGrange (8-7, 5-2) and Troup County (6-5, 4-3). Starr’s Mill hosts Class 5A Northgate (6-8-1, 3-1) on April 9 and will close its regular season at Class 7A Harrison (7-8, 4-4) on April 12.
The Panthers captured the program’s first state title in 2000 in Class 2A and won the Class 3A championship in 2010. Last season, Star’s Mill reclassified from Class 5A to Class 4A and advanced to the second round of the playoffs before losing to Cairo 2-1.
Player Spotlight – Christian Fowler is a senior midfielder leading Class 3A No. 8 Pike County (12-2, 7-0) to the top of the Area 2-3A standings. Fowler has scored 25 of the team’s 56 goals while aiding with a team-leading 15 assists. Behind Fowler, senior Sebastian Facundo adds 11 goals with six assists and senior Luke Mann has 10 goals with nine assists.
Class 7A
1. Hillgrove
2. Discovery
3. Lambert
4. South Forsyth
5. Milton
6. Grayson
7. Archer
8. Peachtree Ridge
9. Collins Hill
10. Pebblebrook
Class 6A
1. River Ridge
2. Johns Creek
3. Sprayberry
4. Sequoyah
5. Lassiter
6. North Atlanta
7. North Forsyth
8. Veterans
9. Marist
10. Blessed Trinity
Class 5A
1. McIntosh
2. Clarke Central
3. Dalton
4. Cass
5. Centennial
6. Greenbrier
7. Kell
8. Calhoun
9. Chattahoochee
10. Decatur
Class 4A
1. Johnson-Gainesville
2. Westminster
3. Starr’s Mill
4. Cedar Shoals
5. Whitewater
6. Druid Hills
7. Pace Academy
8. East Forsyth
9. Cherokee Bluff
10. Clarkston
Class 3A
1. Hebron Christian
2. Oconee County
3. Savannah Country Day
4. Wesleyan
5. Columbus
6. Bremen
7. Coahulla Creek
8. Pike County
9. Richmond Academy
10. Thomasville
Class 2A
1. Model
2. Toombs County
3. Union County
4. Walker
5. Jeff Davis
6. East Jackson
7. Callaway
8. Tattnall County
9. Pierce County
10. Landmark Christian
Class A Division I
1. Atlanta International
2. Dalton Academy
3. Whitefield Academy
4. Tallulah Falls
5. Paideia
6. East Laurens
7. Woodville-Tompkins
8. Mount Vernon
9. Metter
10. Rabun County
Class A Division II
1. Georgia Military
2. Lake Oconee Academy
3. Aquinas
4. Christian Heritage
5. Atkinson County
6. Dooly County
7. Fugees
8. Towns County
9. Atlanta Classical
10. Wheeler County
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