Playoff picture coming into focus in Class AAAAAAA

ajc.com

Credit: Brian O'Shea (AJC)

Credit: Brian O'Shea (AJC)

The girls soccer state playoffs begin in about a week, and there are several region titles and playoff berths still up for grabs as the regular season comes to a close. Here’s a look at how each Class AAAAAAA region stands going into Tuesday’s matches:

*Region 1: Tift County, Lowndes and Camden County (all 3-2 in region play) still have a shot at the region title, and the matter will be settled Tuesday. If Camden loses to Colquitt County, the winner of the Tift-Lowndes game will take the title. Camden earns the title with a victory and a Tift loss to Lowndes. If Camden and Tift win, the championship will be determined by goal differential.

*Region 2: East Coweta cruised to the region title with a 5-0 record, outscoring its opponents 36-0. The Indians' only losses this season have come against Class AAAAAA Pope and AAAAA McIntosh, both of which are ranked in the top 10. Newnan, which gave East Coweta its closest region game when it lost 3-0 on March 27, finished in second place, followed by Campbell and Wheeler.

*Region 3: Hillgrove clinched the region title with a 3-2 victory over North Paulding last week and can complete a 10-0 region season with a win Tuesday against last-place McEachern. Amaya Evans scored twice and Erin Carleton had a goal against North Paulding. Kennesaw Mountain will finish in second place, and the other playoff berths will go to No. 3 Marietta and No. 4 North Paulding.

*Region 4: Walton, No. 4 in the Eurosport rankings, clinched the region title with a 1-0 victory (4-3 in penalty kicks) over defending state champion Lassiter on Thursday. Sophomore goalkeeper Carson Smith made five saves, including two in the shootout. The loss dropped Lassiter to third place behind Roswell, which finished second. Etowah went 2-3 in region play and earned the No. 4 seed.

*Region 5: Lambert clinched the region championship with a 4-0 victory over Forsyth Central on Thursday. The Longhorns got goals from Reagan Donnelly, Ellie Prybylski and Kali Franz. South Forsyth, which handed Lambert its only region loss when it defeated the Longhorns 4-2 on Feb. 28, finished in second place. Milton is the No. 3 seed, and West Forsyth will be the fourth-place team.

*Region 6: Top-ranked Peachtree Ridge, Collins Hill, Mill Creek and North Gwinnett have clinched the four playoff berths. Peachtree Ridge is unbeaten in region play, one game ahead of Collins Hill, and the winner of their game Tuesday will be the region champion. The Lions (13-2) have won 12 consecutive matches against Georgia opponents and outscored their opponents 19-3 in region play.

*Region 7: Brookwood freshman Dasia Torbert scored both goals in a 2-1 victory over rival Parkview last Thursday that put the Broncos in position to win the region title if they beat Lakeside-DeKalb on Tuesday. A Lakeside victory would leave the teams in a three-way tie for first place. All three will make the playoffs. The other berth will go to the winner of the Norcross-Berkmar match.

*Region 8: Grayson was the dominant team in 8-AAAAAAA this year, winning its 10 region games by a combined score of 91-4. The Rams' closest region game was a 7-2 victory against Archer, which finished in second place. Rockdale County and South Gwinnett will take the final two playoff berths. Grayson concludes the regular season Tuesday against Class AAAA North Oconee.

State tournament

Here’s how the bracket lines up in each classification for the first round of the state playoffs. The games are tentatively scheduled for April 27 in Class AAAAAAA, AAAAAA and AAAAA and on April 25 for the four lower classes.

R8 #3 at R6 #2

R2 #4 at R4 #1

R1 #3 at R3 #2

R7 #4 at R5 #1

R6 #3 at R8 #2

R4 #4 at R2 #1

R3 #3 at R1 #2

R5 #4 at R7 #1

R4 #3 at R2 #2

R6 #4 at R8 #1

R5 #3 at R7 #2

R3 #4 at R1 #1

R2 #3 at R4 #2

R8 #4 at R6 #1

R7 #3 at R5 #2

R1 #4 at R3 #1